How Much Does a CT Chest With Contrast Cost in Maryland?
Ct thorax dx c+
$233Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a CT chest with contrast costs up to about $233 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Maryland averages $173, from $168 in Rest of Maryland to $177 in Baltimore/Surr. Cntys.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
- ✓Five nearby hospitals by name, with CMS star ratings
- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
- ✓A word-for-word script for asking for a good-faith estimate
- ✓A private link you can reopen and share
- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
Maryland Medicare physician rate (2026)
+3.6% vs nationalAverage of 2 localities. Office range $168.31–$177.18.
What the whole procedure costs
The office rate above is what an imaging center, lab or office is paid for the whole test. In a hospital, the facility bills its own fee and the physician bills only the reading. These are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Medicare may pay the facility separately for this code or package it into another service on the same day, so treat the facility share as an upper bound. For a test like this the physician in a hospital bills only the reading (the professional component); outside a hospital one global fee covers the whole test, shown in the office rate above. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Your ZIP in Maryland
A ZIP lookup matters in Maryland because three different locality treatments are in play: check whether you fall in the Baltimore area, the DC suburbs like Bethesda and Silver Spring, or rest-of-state regions like Frederick, Hagerstown, and the Eastern Shore.
What CT chest with contrast costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Maryland moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
For example 20601.
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What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again. In Maryland the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $117.72.
National vs Maryland
Where Maryland ranks for this CPT
CPT 71260 by Maryland locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| baltimore/surr. cntys | $177.18 |
| rest of maryland | $168.31 |
PE GPCI ranges from 1.012 to 1.073 in Maryland. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
CT Chest With Contrast and how Maryland is priced
Maryland's Medicare physician pricing is split geographically: Baltimore and its surrounding counties form one locality, the rest of the state another, and, unusually, the Washington suburbs including Montgomery and Prince George's counties are priced inside the District of Columbia's high-cost locality rather than either Maryland one. That three-way carve means a Rockville procedure is approved at DC-area rates while an identical one in Frederick or Salisbury is not. Baltimore-area adjustments sit above rest-of-state levels but below the DC locality. Few states have their pricing shaped this much by a neighboring jurisdiction.
Maryland is also the only state with an all-payer rate-setting system for hospital services, so hospital-side billing works differently here than anywhere else in the country, though physician fees still follow the standard Medicare schedule. Baltimore's academic medical centers rank among the most prominent in the world and draw patients globally. The Eastern Shore and western Maryland are far more rural, with patients often traveling to Baltimore, Annapolis, or across state lines.
This procedure: A chest CT with contrast adds an IV injection of iodine dye during the scan to light up blood vessels, lymph nodes, and masses in the chest. It is preferred when evaluating enlarged lymph nodes, suspected cancer spread, or vascular structures. The scan itself takes under a minute; the appointment runs about 30 minutes including IV placement, and the dye causes a brief warm flush that patients often feel in odd places.
What Is CT Chest With Contrast?
A chest CT with contrast adds an IV injection of iodine dye during the scan to light up blood vessels, lymph nodes, and masses in the chest. It is preferred when evaluating enlarged lymph nodes, suspected cancer spread, or vascular structures. The scan itself takes under a minute; the appointment runs about 30 minutes including IV placement, and the dye causes a brief warm flush that patients often feel in odd places.
What Affects the Cost
- –The iodinated contrast is a separate supply charge on top of the scan fee.
- –A kidney function blood test may be required before contrast in older patients or those with kidney risk, adding a lab charge.
- –Hospital versus freestanding center pricing gaps for contrast CT are just as wide as for any advanced imaging.
- –Patients with prior contrast reactions may need pre-medication protocols or an alternative study, changing the cost picture.
- –The radiologist's fee for a contrast-enhanced study runs higher than for the plain version.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Does my authorization specify a contrast-enhanced chest CT?
- 2.Will I need a kidney function test first, and is that billed to me?
- 3.How much is the contrast agent itself on your bills?
- 4.What is the global price at a freestanding imaging center?
- 5.If I react to dye or my kidneys disqualify me, what happens to the study and the charges?
Other featured procedures in Maryland
CT Chest With Contrast in other states
CT Chest With Contrast in Maryland: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a CT chest with contrast costs up to about $233 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Maryland averages $173, from $168 in Rest of Maryland to $177 in Baltimore/Surr. Cntys. Enter a ZIP for the exact Maryland locality.
Yes. CMS splits Maryland into 2 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $8.87 from the lowest to highest locality. A ZIP lookup matters in Maryland because three different locality treatments are in play: check whether you fall in the Baltimore area, the DC suburbs like Bethesda and Silver Spring, or rest-of-state regions like Frederick, Hagerstown, and the Eastern Shore.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $35 for the office physician line or $11 for the hospital physician line in Maryland. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
It depends on where the test is done. At an independent imaging center, lab or office, $172.75 is Medicare's full rate in Maryland, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $55.03) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $233. Maryland ranks #41 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (4% above the national office rate of $166.67).