CPT71260

CT Chest With Contrast Cost in Minnesota

Ct thorax dx c+

$346Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facility
Hospital payments are wage-adjusted by locality, so the ZIP changes the numbers.
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Minnesota Medicare physician rate (2026)

+0.9% vs national

Single statewide locality.

Minnesota (Hospital)
$168.21
Facility physician fee
Private plan est.
$219–$336
~130–200% of Medicare
Cash / self-pay est.
$135–$252
~80–150% of Medicare

What the whole procedure costs

The rate above is the physician’s fee on its own. The facility bills separately, and for most procedures the facility is the larger half of the bill. These are 2026 national Medicare amounts.

Surgery centre, total
$264
$167 physician + $97 facility
Physician fee alone
$167
Only 48% of the hospital total

Choosing a surgery centre over a hospital saves about $82 on the Medicare allowed amount for ct chest with contrast. Ask whether your procedure can be done at an ambulatory surgery centre.

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. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.

Your ZIP in Minnesota

Check your ZIP code for your part of Minnesota, whether Minneapolis-St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, or the farm and lake country beyond.

What ct chest with contrast costs at hospitals near you

Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Minnesota moves the bill more than anything else you control.

Locked

Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.

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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 centre 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.

National vs Minnesota

National office$166.67
National hospital (physician)$166.67
Minnesota vs nationalwithin 2% of the national office rate of $166.67

Where Minnesota ranks for this CPT

Rank (lowest physician fee first)#37 of 51
Lowest stateArkansas ($147.46)
Highest stateAlaska ($192.38)

CT Chest With Contrast and how Minnesota is priced

Minnesota's physician fees are set through a small number of Medicare payment localities rather than a single statewide one, distinguishing the Twin Cities region from the rest of the state. Geographic adjustments in the metro run higher than in greater Minnesota, though the gap is modest by coastal standards. The state is otherwise notable for how its practice patterns, historically efficient and integrated, have featured in national Medicare policy debates. From Duluth to Worthington, non-metro Minnesota prices off common lower-cost factors.

The Twin Cities host a dense, integrated medical market, and Rochester is home to one of the most famous referral centers in the world, drawing patients from every state and abroad. Greater Minnesota relies on regional hubs like Duluth, St. Cloud, and Mankato, with long winter drives a real factor in care planning. Minnesota's tradition of integrated group practice tends to make billing more coordinated than in many states.

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?

CT Chest With Contrast in Minnesota: questions

Minnesota is a single Medicare locality for this fee schedule. The 2026 physician rate for CPT 71260 is $168.21 in an office and $168.21 in a hospital, statewide. A ZIP lookup still confirms the locality mapping.

Not on the physician fee schedule. Minnesota uses one locality, so the Medicare physician rate is the same from one end of the state to the other. What still changes is site of service (office vs hospital) and any facility fee the hospital bills on its own claim.

After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $34 for the office physician line or $34 for the hospital physician line in Minnesota. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.

No. $168.21 is only the physician's share. Adding Medicare's facility payment brings the total to about $346 in a hospital outpatient department, or about $264 at an ambulatory surgery centre. Anesthesia, pathology and other codes billed the same day are extra. Minnesota ranks #37 of 51 states on the physician line (within 2% of the national office rate of $166.67).

Data source: 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (CMS PPRRVU26B, released March 2026). Conversion factor: $33.4009. Prices shown are Medicare allowed amounts for the physician service and may not match what you are billed. Private insurance and self-pay ranges, when shown, are labeled estimates (typical multiples of Medicare), not quotes. This site is an independent cost tool, not medical advice.