How Much Does a Nuclear Stress Test Cost in New Jersey?
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$1,397Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a nuclear stress test costs about $1,397 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 New Jersey averages $478, from $465 in Rest of New Jersey to $491 in Northern Nj.
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New Jersey Medicare physician rate (2026)
+11.6% vs nationalAverage of 2 localities. Office range $464.51–$490.81.
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.
This is Medicare's separate payment to the facility on top of the physician's fee. 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 New Jersey
Look up your ZIP code to see whether northern or rest-of-state New Jersey pricing applies, from Newark, Jersey City, and Bergen County down to Trenton, Cherry Hill, and the Jersey Shore.
What nuclear stress test costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in New Jersey 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 07001.
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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 New Jersey the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $397.81.
National vs New Jersey
Where New Jersey ranks for this CPT
CPT 78452 by New Jersey locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| northern nj | $490.81 |
| rest of new jersey | $464.51 |
PE GPCI ranges from 1.092 to 1.160 in New Jersey. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
Nuclear Stress Test and how New Jersey is priced
New Jersey is split into two payment localities: northern New Jersey, which carries higher adjustments befitting its position in the New York metropolitan orbit, and the rest of the state to the south. Both localities price above the national average, but the northern one ranks among the more expensive in the country. The dividing line means a procedure in Bergen County is approved at a higher amount than the same one in Cherry Hill or along the shore. South Jersey's pricing gravity pulls toward Philadelphia even though its locality is its own.
New Jersey may be the ultimate cross-border care state: North Jersey residents flow into Manhattan hospitals, South Jersey residents into Philadelphia's academic centers, and the state's own large systems compete hard in between. Dense population means most residents have multiple hospitals within a short drive, which is real negotiating leverage for a cash-pay patient. The shore counties see seasonal population surges that strain capacity each summer.
This procedure: A nuclear stress test (SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging) shows how well blood reaches your heart muscle at rest versus under stress, revealing blocked arteries. A small amount of radioactive tracer is injected, a special camera images the heart at rest, then you exercise on a treadmill or receive a medication that mimics exercise, and imaging repeats. Plan for a half day; the multiple imaging sessions and waiting periods make it one of the longest routine cardiac tests.
What Is Nuclear Stress Test?
A nuclear stress test (SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging) shows how well blood reaches your heart muscle at rest versus under stress, revealing blocked arteries. A small amount of radioactive tracer is injected, a special camera images the heart at rest, then you exercise on a treadmill or receive a medication that mimics exercise, and imaging repeats. Plan for a half day; the multiple imaging sessions and waiting periods make it one of the longest routine cardiac tests.
What Affects the Cost
- –The radioactive tracer is a significant supply cost billed alongside the imaging, and tracer prices fluctuate with supply shortages.
- –Pharmacologic stress agents, used for patients who cannot exercise, are expensive drugs billed as additional lines.
- –Hospital outpatient cardiology departments charge substantially more than office-based nuclear labs.
- –Abnormal results commonly lead to cardiac catheterization, a much larger downstream expense.
- –The supervising cardiologist's stress supervision fee and the imaging interpretation fee are separate professional charges.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Has prior authorization been approved, and did my insurer suggest a cheaper test first?
- 2.Would a stress echocardiogram or exercise ECG answer the question for me at lower cost?
- 3.What do the tracer and any stress medication add to the bill?
- 4.Is this being done in an office-based lab or a hospital department, and what is the price at each?
- 5.If the result is abnormal, what is the next test and its typical cost?
Other featured procedures in New Jersey
Nuclear Stress Test in other states
Nuclear Stress Test in New Jersey: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a nuclear stress test costs about $1,397 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 New Jersey averages $478, from $465 in Rest of New Jersey to $491 in Northern Nj. Enter a ZIP for the exact New Jersey locality.
Yes. CMS splits New Jersey into 2 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $26.30 from the lowest to highest locality. Look up your ZIP code to see whether northern or rest-of-state New Jersey pricing applies, from Newark, Jersey City, and Bergen County down to Trenton, Cherry Hill, and the Jersey Shore.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $96 for the office physician line or $16 for the hospital physician line in New Jersey. 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, $477.66 is Medicare's full rate in New Jersey, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $79.85) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to about $1,397. New Jersey ranks #48 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (12% above the national office rate of $427.87).