How much does a stress test cost?
What a stress test costs depends on who is paying. Without insurance, the figure to use is a hospital's cash price, and the hospitals below publish theirs. For people on Medicare, what Medicare pays for the nuclear imaging part of a nuclear stress test in 2026 averages $1,749 in total at a hospital outpatient department, of which the patient pays about $349, or $1,146 at an ambulatory surgical center with the patient paying about $228, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; that is the government's rate for Medicare patients, and a private plan or a cash payer is charged its own price. There is no national figure for what private insurance pays: FAIR Health's consumer cost lookup, the nearest thing to one, gives estimates only for a ZIP code you enter, so it is not quoted here. It depends on which kind of stress test, and the three kinds are priced far apart. For the treadmill part of a stress test, CPT 93017, Boston Medical Center publishes a gross charge of $1,185.00 and a cash price of $533.25 in its file dated 13 March 2026. For the nuclear imaging that makes it a nuclear stress test, CPT 78452, Boston Medical Center publishes $5,454.00 with a cash price of $2,454.30. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $2,206.65 for the same nuclear imaging code and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $9,684.00, each as the same figure for cash as for list. A nuclear stress test is usually billed as both codes, and the reading is billed on top.
$1,185.00 list, $533.25 cash
CPT 93017, the treadmill or drug stress test tracing, at one hospital on 13 March 2026
$5,454.00 list, $2,454.30 cash
CPT 78452, the nuclear heart imaging, at the same hospital
$9,684.00
the same nuclear imaging code at a second hospital, list and cash alike, on 1 April 2026
$1,749
what Medicare pays in total, Medicare patients only, the nuclear imaging part of a nuclear stress test, hospital outpatient, 2026
$1,146
what Medicare pays in total, Medicare patients only, the nuclear imaging part of a nuclear stress test, ambulatory surgical center, 2026
Cost breakdown
Each table below comes from one source, named underneath it, with the date that source last revised the figures. Everything is a United States figure in USD.
Stress test codes at Boston Medical Center, from its file last updated 13 March 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93017 | HC Cv Strs Tst Xers&/or Rx Cont Ecg Trcg Only | $1,185.00 | $533.25 |
| 78452 | HC Chg Myocardial Spect Multiple Studies, and one more line | $5,454.00 | $2,454.30 |
| 93350 | HC Echo Heart Xthoracic, Stress/Rest, with or without contrast | $2,376.00 | $1,069.20 |
| 93351 | HC Echo Tthrc R-T 2d W/WO M-Mode Rest&Strs Cont Ecg, with or without contrast | $2,505.00 | $1,127.25 |
Stress test facility charges at Franklin Memorial Hospital, from its file last updated 9 September 2025
| CPT and billing class | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93017, facility | HC CARDIOVASCULAR STRESS TEST | $1,605.50 | $1,605.50 |
| 78452, facility | HC HT MUSCLE IMAGE SPECT MULTIPLE STUDY | $2,206.65 | $2,206.65 |
| 78452, professional | CHG MYOCARDIAL SPECT MULTIPLE STUDIES, three lines | $240.00, $559.00 and $799.00 | the same three |
| 93350, facility | HC STRESS TTE ONLY-EXERCISE | $1,736.30 | $1,736.30 |
| 93351, facility | HC STRESS TTE COMPLETE | $1,867.55 | $1,867.55 |
Stress test facility charges at The University of Chicago Medical Center, from its file last updated 1 April 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93017 | Hc Mset - Bruce Protocol, and eight more lines by protocol | $2,787.00 | $2,787.00 |
| 78452 | Hc Myocard Perf Img,Tomograph;Mult Stdy,Rest &/Or Stress | $9,684.00 | $9,684.00 |
| 93350 | Hc Stress Echo Exercise, and Hc Stress Echo Pharmacologic | $4,361.00 | $4,361.00 |
What Medicare pays for nuclear stress test imaging, 2026, for Medicare patients only: the total and the patient's share
| Procedure | Code | Hospital outpatient total | Patient pays | Surgical center total | Patient pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear imaging (myocardial perfusion, SPECT), multiple studies | 78452 | $1,749 | $349 | $1,146 | $228 |
A bar for each row of the table above, 4 of them, drawn to the same scale so the spread is visible at a glance. The figure beside each bar is the one the table prints.
What changes the price
- Which kind of stress test
- This is the largest difference on the page. At Boston Medical Center the treadmill tracing, CPT 93017, is $1,185.00, a stress echocardiogram, CPT 93350, is $2,376.00, and the nuclear imaging, CPT 78452, is $5,454.00. A nuclear stress test usually bills the treadmill or drug test as well as the imaging.
- Which hospital
- The nuclear imaging code 78452 is $5,454.00 at Boston Medical Center, $2,206.65 at Franklin Memorial Hospital and $9,684.00 at The University of Chicago Medical Center, each as the list price in its own dated file.
- Whether anyone is paying on your behalf
- Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price below list on every stress test code, at $2,454.30 for 78452. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish the same figure for cash as for list.
- Whether you have insurance
- The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $9,684.00 as the list price for 78452, and its file gives the rates agreed with plans for the outpatient scan a minimum of $645.24 and a maximum of $3,917.82.
- The reading
- The doctor supervising and reading the test is billed separately. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes three different professional prices for 78452, $240.00, $559.00 and $799.00, and the reading of the treadmill test only as plan rates.
How to pay less
- Ask which stress test has been ordered, by code
- A treadmill test, a stress echo and a nuclear stress test are three different purchases. Ask for the CPT codes on the order before you ask for a price.
- Ask for the cash price by name
- Boston Medical Center publishes $2,454.30 cash for the nuclear imaging against $5,454.00 list. The other two hospitals here publish no discount, so ask and check the answer against the file.
- Ask whether the quote covers every line
- A nuclear stress test is at least two codes, plus the reading. A quote for "the stress test" may cover one of them.
Questions
How much does a nuclear stress test cost with Medicare?
Medicare's national average total for the nuclear imaging part of a nuclear stress test in 2026 is $1,749 in a hospital outpatient department, with the patient paying $349 on average, or $1,146 in an ambulatory surgical center, with the patient paying $228, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. With a private plan, your cost depends on its negotiated rate and your deductible; without insurance, ask for the cash price, which the hospital files on this page publish.
How much does a nuclear stress test cost?
For the nuclear imaging, CPT 78452, Boston Medical Center publishes $5,454.00 with a cash price of $2,454.30, Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $2,206.65 for the facility, and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $9,684.00, each in its own dated file. The treadmill or drug test and the reading are billed on top.
How much does a regular stress test cost?
For the treadmill test with the heart traced throughout, CPT 93017, Boston Medical Center publishes $1,185.00 with a cash price of $533.25, Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $1,605.50, and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $2,787.00.
How much does a stress echo cost?
For CPT 93350, Boston Medical Center publishes $2,376.00 with a cash price of $1,069.20, Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $1,736.30, and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $4,361.00.
How much is a stress test without insurance?
That is the cash price where a hospital publishes a lower one. Boston Medical Center does on every stress test code. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish the same figure for cash as for list.
Why does a hospital have to publish this?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires every hospital operating in the United States to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file of all items and services and a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services, states that it audits a sample of hospitals and investigates complaints, and states that hospitals may face civil monetary penalties for noncompliance.
Where these figures come from
Every figure here is published by the hospital named beside it, in US dollars, in the United States, in its own machine-readable standard charges file under 45 CFR 180.50, and each file carries the attestation that the information encoded is true, accurate and complete as of the date in the file. The dates are the ones the files give themselves: 13 March 2026 for Boston Medical Center, attested by Christopher Abate, 9 September 2025 for Franklin Memorial Hospital, attested by Kenneth Olsen, and 1 April 2026 for The University of Chicago Medical Center, attested by Chris Allen. All three files were downloaded again before this page was written, and each was byte-identical to the copy read on 25 September 2026. BEFORE ANY CODE WAS QUOTED, THE DISTINCT PUBLISHED PRICES FOR IT WERE COUNTED PER CODE AND PER BILLING CLASS. Every code quoted carries one price, except the professional side of 78452 at Franklin Memorial Hospital, which carries three, and all three are shown. Plan rates are what a plan pays the hospital, not what a patient owes, and their minimum and maximum are the fields each file prints. Boston Medical Center publishes no billing_class column, so its rows are labelled unlabelled. Nothing here is added up into a total, averaged or restated as a typical cost, and three hospitals are three hospitals rather than a national picture.