How Much Does a CT Chest With Contrast Cost in Missouri?
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 Missouri averages $156, from $149 in Rest of Missouri to $161 in Metropolitan St. Louis.
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Missouri Medicare physician rate (2026)
-6.2% vs nationalAverage of 3 localities. Office range $149.22–$160.63.
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 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 CT chest with contrast costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Missouri 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.
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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 Missouri the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $103.65.
National vs Missouri
Where Missouri ranks for this CPT
CPT 71260 by Missouri locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan st. louis | $160.63 |
| metropolitan kansas city | $158.92 |
| rest of missouri | $149.22 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.862 to 0.952 in Missouri. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
CT Chest With Contrast 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 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 Missouri
CT Chest With Contrast in other states
CT Chest With Contrast in Missouri: 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 Missouri averages $156, from $149 in Rest of Missouri to $161 in Metropolitan St. Louis. Enter a ZIP for the exact Missouri locality.
Yes. CMS splits Missouri into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $11.41 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.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $31 for the office physician line or $11 for the hospital physician line in Missouri. 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, $156.26 is Medicare's full rate in Missouri, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $52.61) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $233. Missouri ranks #15 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (6% below the national office rate of $166.67).