Chest X-Ray Cost in Missouri
X-ray exam chest 2 views
Missouri Medicare physician rate (2026)
-6.4% vs nationalAverage of 3 localities. Office range $29.55–$31.85.
Your ZIP in Missouri
Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What this number is
The figures on this page are 2026 Medicare physician allowed amounts for a specific CPT code: the professional fee, adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices. They are not a hospital chargemaster price, not your insurer's contracted rate, and not a quote. Hospital facility fees, anesthesia, implants, imaging reads, and pathology are billed separately when they apply.
National vs Missouri
Where Missouri ranks for this CPT
CPT 71046 by Missouri locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan st. louis | $31.85 |
| metropolitan kansas city | $31.50 |
| rest of missouri | $29.55 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.862 to 0.952 in Missouri. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
Chest X-Ray and how Missouri is priced
Missouri is a three-locality state: metropolitan St. Louis and metropolitan Kansas City are each priced separately, and everywhere else falls into a rest-of-state locality with lower geographic adjustments. Both metro localities approve higher amounts than outstate Missouri, and the Kansas City locality applies only to the Missouri side of that metro, since the Kansas side prices under Kansas's statewide locality. Springfield, Columbia, and the rural counties all share rest-of-state factors. The metro-versus-outstate gap is the main pricing story here.
St. Louis and Kansas City hold the state's academic medical centers and most of its specialty depth, drawing patients from far beyond Missouri's borders, including southern Illinois and eastern Kansas. Outstate Missouri is served by regional hubs in Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, with the Ozarks and Bootheel among the harder places to reach specialty care. Rural hospital viability has been a persistent concern across the state.
This procedure: A two-view chest X-ray takes front and side pictures of your lungs, heart, and ribs in about five minutes of actual room time. It is among the most commonly ordered imaging tests, used for coughs that will not quit, suspected pneumonia, shortness of breath, or pre-operative checks. You stand against a plate, take a deep breath and hold it for each view, and there is no preparation, no needles, and only a minimal radiation dose.
What Is Chest X-Ray?
A two-view chest X-ray takes front and side pictures of your lungs, heart, and ribs in about five minutes of actual room time. It is among the most commonly ordered imaging tests, used for coughs that will not quit, suspected pneumonia, shortness of breath, or pre-operative checks. You stand against a plate, take a deep breath and hold it for each view, and there is no preparation, no needles, and only a minimal radiation dose.
What Affects the Cost
- Emergency department chest X-rays cost several times more than the same two views at an urgent care or imaging center.
- The radiologist's interpretation is a separate professional fee from the technical charge for taking the images.
- Hospital-owned clinics can attach facility fees that independent offices do not.
- If findings prompt a follow-up chest CT, that next test costs an order of magnitude more, so where the X-ray leads matters.
- Some urgent care visit charges bundle the X-ray while others itemize it, changing the apparent price.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Can I get this done at an imaging center or urgent care rather than the hospital?
- 2.Is the radiologist's reading included in the quoted price?
- 3.Will this be billed separately from my visit charge today?
- 4.What is your cash price if I have a high deductible?
- 5.If something shows up, what follow-up imaging would you order and what does that cost?
Other featured procedures in Missouri
Chest X-Ray in other states
Chest X-Ray in Missouri: questions
How much does chest x-ray cost in Missouri?
The 2026 Medicare physician office rate for CPT 71046 averages $30.97 across 3 Missouri localities, from $29.55 in REST OF MISSOURI to $31.85 in METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS. The hospital physician rate averages $30.97. Enter a ZIP for the exact locality.
Does the rate change inside Missouri?
Yes. CMS splits Missouri into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $2.30 from the lowest to highest locality. Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What will a Medicare patient owe for the physician fee?
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $6 for the office physician line or $6 for the hospital physician line in Missouri. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
Is this the full chest x-ray bill in Missouri?
No. $30.97 is the Medicare physician allowed amount for CPT 71046. Anesthesia, facility fees, implants, and other CPT codes billed the same day are extra. Missouri ranks #15 of 51 states on this physician line (6% below the national office rate of $33.07).