How Much Does a CT Chest Without Contrast Cost in Pennsylvania?
Ct thorax dx c-
$156Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a CT chest without contrast costs up to about $156 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 Pennsylvania averages $131, from $125 in Rest of Pennsylvania to $138 in Metropolitan Philadelphia.
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- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
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- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
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Pennsylvania Medicare physician rate (2026)
-1.1% vs nationalAverage of 2 localities. Office range $124.67–$137.59.
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 Pennsylvania
Look up your ZIP to see whether metro Philadelphia or rest-of-state pricing applies, from Philadelphia and its collar counties to Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Erie, and the rural center.
What CT chest without contrast costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Pennsylvania 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 15001.
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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 Pennsylvania the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $81.49.
National vs Pennsylvania
Where Pennsylvania ranks for this CPT
CPT 71250 by Pennsylvania locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan philadelphia | $137.59 |
| rest of pennsylvania | $124.67 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.918 to 1.041 in Pennsylvania. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
CT Chest Without Contrast and how Pennsylvania is priced
Pennsylvania's fee schedule separates metro Philadelphia from the rest of the state, giving the southeast its own higher-cost locality while Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown, Erie, and rural Pennsylvania share rest-of-state adjustments. That means the state's second-largest medical market, Pittsburgh, is priced with rural counties rather than with Philadelphia. The Philadelphia locality's premium reflects the metro's wage and rent levels, which lead the state by a wide margin. For patients, the key locality question in Pennsylvania is simply whether care happens in the Philadelphia area.
Philadelphia is one of America's historic centers of academic medicine, dense with teaching hospitals, while Pittsburgh is dominated by a pair of large integrated systems whose rivalry has defined that market for years. The rural middle of the state, sometimes called the T, has far fewer options, and hospital closures there have drawn statewide attention. Residents near the edges use New York, Baltimore, or Ohio providers when convenient.
This procedure: A chest CT without contrast takes cross-sectional X-ray images of the lungs and chest in a scan that lasts under a minute on the table, with the whole appointment done in 15 minutes. It sees far more detail than a chest X-ray and is ordered to evaluate lung nodules, unexplained cough, abnormal X-ray findings, or interstitial lung disease. You lie on a table that slides through a doughnut-shaped scanner and hold your breath briefly; no IV is needed for this non-contrast version.
What Is CT Chest Without Contrast?
A chest CT without contrast takes cross-sectional X-ray images of the lungs and chest in a scan that lasts under a minute on the table, with the whole appointment done in 15 minutes. It sees far more detail than a chest X-ray and is ordered to evaluate lung nodules, unexplained cough, abnormal X-ray findings, or interstitial lung disease. You lie on a table that slides through a doughnut-shaped scanner and hold your breath briefly; no IV is needed for this non-contrast version.
What Affects the Cost
- –Freestanding imaging centers routinely price this scan at a fraction of hospital outpatient rates.
- –The radiologist's professional reading fee is billed separately from the scan at many facilities.
- –Lung nodules found on a first scan typically trigger a series of follow-up CTs over one to two years, multiplying the true cost of the finding.
- –Low-dose CT for lung cancer screening is a different code with different, usually free, coverage; make sure the right one is ordered if screening is the goal.
- –Emergency department chest CTs carry ER-level facility charges far above scheduled outpatient pricing.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Is this being ordered as a diagnostic CT or as low-dose lung cancer screening, and am I eligible for the free screening version?
- 2.Has prior authorization been obtained for the facility where I am scheduled?
- 3.What does this scan cost at a freestanding center versus the hospital?
- 4.If a nodule is found, how many follow-up scans should I budget for?
- 5.Is the radiologist fee included in the price I was quoted?
Other featured procedures in Pennsylvania
CT Chest Without Contrast in other states
CT Chest Without Contrast in Pennsylvania: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a CT chest without contrast costs up to about $156 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 Pennsylvania averages $131, from $125 in Rest of Pennsylvania to $138 in Metropolitan Philadelphia. Enter a ZIP for the exact Pennsylvania locality.
Yes. CMS splits Pennsylvania into 2 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $12.92 from the lowest to highest locality. Look up your ZIP to see whether metro Philadelphia or rest-of-state pricing applies, from Philadelphia and its collar counties to Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Erie, and the rural center.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $26 for the office physician line or $10 for the hospital physician line in Pennsylvania. 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, $131.13 is Medicare's full rate in Pennsylvania, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $49.64) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $156. Pennsylvania ranks #28 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (within 2% of the national office rate of $132.60).