What would it cost to get a CT scan in ER in the states?

[stollen]

I had one done in Germany, and it cost 250 euro. The ER Dr suggested I may get some money back.

[Sedona]

1. I had it done in South Florida two years ago

It was $4300, I had to pay 30% ($1300) of it

[guillaumeb]

2. The miracle of the free market and for profit healthcare. eom

[NCTraveler]

6. Its not a free market system.

Very very far from it.

[guillaumeb]

7. The market is never free, but I could have indicated that I intended sarcasm. eom

[NCTraveler]

8. My bad. I did not recognize your sarcasm.

Referencing it as even close to being free market would have to be. Or....

[tymorial]

26. I thought it apparent.

[guillaumeb]

33. I never use the emojis or other symbols.

So I understand the confusion as to my intent.

[Mediumsizedhand]

3. Around 3K, I believe. Now I am curious and am going to google.

[Mediumsizedhand]

4. Interesting, this says 1,300.

The price depends on where you live, the negotiating power of the provider who administers the scan and your insurance provider. According to New Choice Health, the national average cost of a brain CT scan is $1,200. However, the price could vary drastically, so you're smart to investigate the cost upfront.

Though I got one and thought my insurance should 3K. I have also noticed what is charged insurance is not the price quoted out. I do not know who the screwing is, Insurance or Medical facilities. Both in different ways.

[anneboleyn]

16. That's VERY VERY low. In our experience they are in the $3k-$5k range. Obviously more expensive

depending on different factors but we (unfortunately) have had a lot of CT scans in our family involving different relatives, and none of our family members have had a CT scan that was under $3k. Yes we all have insurance, and it pays a fair portion of the charge but imaging costs a fortune (and usually is just a fraction of the cost of whatever the scan is determining).


Also -- of course -- for anyone who doesn't have insurance through work, or has a shitty policy that only covers certain "catastrophic" injuries, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, even X-rays are very expensive and obviously it's only a fraction of what a broken bone or illness will cost to treat.

[taught_me_patience]

18. Completely outrageous

A CT scan only takes about 15 minutes. A typical CT image takes an average of 5-10 minutes to read and dictate a report. A radiologist will be paid about $30 for a CT. I had a CT Abdomen Pelvis w/ contrast at UC Irvine Medical Center ER and the charge was $380. Insurance reimbursed about $200.

[SoCalDem]

19. I have had 3 brain MRIs..paid ZERO

Have Kaiser Advantage w/medicare

I had a stroke in Jan 2015 ..stayed 34 hrs in hospital received a bill for $200 (ambulance)..

another stroke in Aug 2015..stayed in hospital 37 hrs..2 MRIs..no ambulance this time.. paid nothing out of pocket

[Mediumsizedhand]

22. I am glad to hear. The first ACA insurance covered well, though check up stuff.

I did have the colonoscopy/endoscopy and lung scan and other test and nothing. Skin cancer surgery (not serious or deadly) I did have to pay some but not nearly as much if I didn't have the insurance. I am glad to hear you are covered so well. Hope that stroke thing is under control.

[bathroommonkey76]

5. Some hospitals will do it for free

There are different charities that a person can sign up for- I qualified for one in 2010.

[anneboleyn]

17. We've never had any imaging for free :( I imagine the charity applies only when one is below a

certain income level (and doesn't have savings -- for various forms of assistance it's not only income that is calculated as part of a person's resources).

Even with insurance this shit becomes ridiculously expensive. We had a relative who had a paid-off house and savings and all of that would have been lost if she'd had to go into a nursing home as all of that goes first before something like Medicaid kicks in. And yes she had Medicare AND Blue Cross. She passed away before she needed full-time care but it scared the hell out of her. That was all she had to leave to her children.

[bathroommonkey76]

20. I'm not sure about your situation, but UNC Hospitals

in Chapel Hill knew that I didn't have health insurance for my gall bladder surgery- I had a job, bank account, car, etc.. At the time of the surgery my income level was around 30 grand a year.

One of my friends told me to apply- I did. And I ended up paying $120 for the entire surgery. lol The 120 was for a visit with my doctor a couple of weeks after the surgery.

[procon]

9. Whenever someone starts grousing about the raising costs of healthcare,

reading from the usual laundry list of Republican talking points, it drives me crazy because they never mention the gigantic elephant in the room... profits. Until we address the primary problem of added profits, healthcare costs will continue to go up because corporations must -- by law -- do everything they legally can to increase profits for their investors... sick folks be damned.

We might start by categorizing healthcare as a necessary public service benefit and utilizing single payer programs that remove the profit takers entirely. Until the politicians -- yeah, the same bastards taking huge bribes from the Insurance Industry -- recollect who they actually represent, nothing will change.

[frazzled]

10. If you have insurance like ours (employer), the cost would be

zero.

Well, there is a $100 copay for a visit to the ER, with or without a CT scan. But after that, 100% of hospital costs for in network hospital services is covered under our plan. We're lucky, though.

The full costs being cited are for non-insured people, though for others, different portions of the cost will be involved depending on the kind of plan you have.

On a side note, my husband has had to have at least a dozen CT scans (plus PET scans, which are wildly more expensive) in the past few years: they had to be pre-approved, and then the insurance paid the full cost. The insurance company started calling to ask if he would be willing to receive information on lower-cost CT-scan facilities than our hospital-related place. He said sure, but then told them that since he started the diagnoses with this hospital, he felt he should continue to use them for consistency's sake. They said okay. You don't fool around with cancer, and you want not only the best quality machines, but more important, the best qualified diagnosticians to interpret the scans. We just weren't interested in cut-rate CT-scans, given the life-or-death situation.

We are old enough to qualify for Medicare now, but we decided to sign up only for Part A as our secondary insurance while my husband is still working and eligible to continue on his employer insurance. Given its full coverage, we felt we'd be better off this way for a while. And that is why getting rid of employer-based insurance will be a hard sell in this country. Not all of it is as good as ours, but a lot of it is, and people don't want to give it up.

[stollen]

12. best wishes to you and your husband

[Demsrule86]

31. Many health care plans out there are pretty good ...this is why you won't get single payer ever in

my view unless employers dump plans completely. If we can save the ACA, we can get a plan like Germany's which works quite well. I see the ACA/GOP affect...hubs got a new job. We are covered under last years until January. In January, the plan is update...$100.00 jump. The Dems need to start running ads...like the ones the GOP ran where ordinary people tell their terrible Trumpcare story. We can't let them own the narrative.

[taught_me_patience]

11. I had a CT Abdomen Pelvis with contrast in the ER

Charge amount: $386
Adjustment: $148
Insurance Paid: $214
I paid: $24

[stollen]

13. I had to pay 250 euro up front before the scan

Once I file the bill with my insurance company, I should get a good amount back. Thanks for the feedback.

[taught_me_patience]

14. Sounds like our system can be better because the hospital bills insurance directly

and the patient picks up the remaining cost... which in my case was $24 (see above).

[Sgent]

15. A few considerations

1) If you need a head CT, you will get it. The ER will worry about the bill later.

2) The ER charge will be $800-$2500, w/o the CT. The CT charge will be another 500-1000 on top of that.

3) If you have insurance, the charges above are meaningless. Your insurance company will negotiate the CT price with the hospital. For instance, Medicare will pay $156 (national average) for the CT -- both the scan and interpretation, any amount over that the hospital and doctor must write off if your in network.

[bathroommonkey76]

21. Make sure it's a public hospital

Private hospitals are nazis when it comes to paying- There is a local hospital near me that has refused to run tests on people b/c they couldn't pay. The patients were told to go to a public hospital that was over 50 miles away...

[area51]

23. Kick for the night crew

Single payer now.

[SweetieD]

24. 3 to 6k dollars about. I had one a few years ago and the bill was over 5k.

[PA Democrat]

25. Mine last year was almost $3400.

I had three in total and would have been billed over $10,000 if not for insurance.

[tymorial]

27. It depends on the state and insurance.

Some states will have CT costs in the high hundreds to low thousands while others will be much much higher like here in Massachusetts. There is also whether you have insurance vs not. With insurance there is the cost and then allowed cost. The allowed is what will ultimately be charged because it is the negotiated rate from the fee schedule.

[ileus]

28. Depends....Duke? Community Hospital non-profit? Stand alone MI clinic?

What exam? Contrast? Head CT? Full body? What slice camera?

We're waiting on the Bill from my Sons CT last month from my hospital, figure since it was insurance the total bill will be around 1200, and our part 380 or so.

If you want to go to a stand alone medical imaging clinic, if you put up cash and file your own claim a CT is in the 4-500 range. But you have to file the insurance or pay it outright.

If you visit Duke like my wife did last month you'll be eating 200 bucks for "hospital services" along with the cost of a CT (waiting on that bill also) last years CT was around 1300 if I remember correctly.



Answer is you just never know...

[Demsrule86]

29. Depending on the area...could cost in the thousands.

[Not Ruth]

30. Under single payer it might be free

[doc03]

32. I got an MRI without contrast at OSUMC about 6months ago

they billed insurance just under $4000 I paid $125.