Medicare reimbursement reference

CPT 78261: $191

Imaging / Radiology. The federally-set baseline for what this code costs when Medicare pays — the standard public-domain reference for self-pay or insured bill review.

Data updated 81 days ago·verified today·Source: CMS Physician Fee Schedule

National average

$191

Per CMS Physician Fee Schedule, effective 2026-01-01. Non-facility national-average. Real Medicare payments adjust by ±15% based on Geographic Practice Cost Index.

Rates by modifier

  • Global rate$191
  • Modifier TC — Technical component (the procedure itself)$164
  • Modifier 26 — Professional component (interpretation only)$27

Modifiers split a procedure’s payment between the technical (equipment / facility) and professional (interpretation / clinician) components, or signal special circumstances. The modifier on your bill should match what was actually performed.

No bill yet, just pricing this out? Ask the provider for a written Good Faith Estimate before you schedule — under the No Surprises Act, uninsured and self-pay patients can request one.

What CPT 78261 actually is

Imaging or radiology service (CPT 78261). Radiology codes typically split into a technical component (the scan itself, modifier TC) and a professional component (the radiologist's read, modifier 26). The global rate covers both.

The number above is one piece of context. The other two benchmarks worth knowing:

  • Hospital cash-pay rate

    Federally required to be published by every US hospital under 45 CFR §180.50 (the Hospital Price Transparency rule). The hospital’s own machine-readable file is the authoritative source. Same code; rates vary widely by facility.

  • Insurance-negotiated rate

    Whatever your specific insurance plan and the specific facility have contracted for the same code. Visible on your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) after the claim posts.

  • Medicare allowed amount (this page)

    $191 for code 78261, set in federal law and updated annually by CMS. Used as the floor benchmark in most bill-review work.

Where CPT 78261 commonly shows up on a bill

Common patterns to look at when reviewing this code:

  • 01.An imaging study where both the technical and professional components are billed at the global rate (effectively double-billing).
  • 02.A scan billed twice under slightly different code variants for the same body part.
  • 03.Contrast billed as a separate line item when the global rate already includes contrast.

These patterns are documented in CMS billing guidance, the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits, and Office of Inspector General audit reports. None of them are accusations about any specific bill or facility — they’re the checks that exist because the patterns themselves exist.

How to check CPT 78261 on your bill

A few quick checks you can run yourself:

  • 01.Check whether the scan shows up once, or split into separate professional and technical lines that add up to more.
  • 02.Look for contrast billed as its own charge when the main code may already cover it.
  • 03.Confirm the body part and scan type — billing a pricier variant than the one you had is an easy error to spot.

What hospitals charge for CPT 78261

Distribution across 16 US hospitals reporting this code under federal Hospital Price Transparency rules (45 CFR §180.50). Gross charges shown here are the chargemaster prices — the starting point before insurance discounts or self-pay reductions. Medicare allowed amount: $191.

Hospital gross (median)

$1,712

25th $1,710 · 75th $3,610

Cash / self-pay (median)

$1,300

What hospitals accept directly

Commercial (median)

$512

Range $197–$5,939

Medicare allowed

$191

Federal-rate floor

Range across all reporting hospitals: $869 to $3,610. That’s a 4× spread for the same procedure code — one of the reasons federal price-transparency rules exist.

Hospitals at the lower end of the distribution

Sorted by published chargemaster price only. Chargemaster is the starting point before insurance discounts or self-pay reductions; the actual amount any specific patient pays depends on case mix, charity-care policy, and insurance contract.

If your bill has this code

See exactly how your charge compares to $191— in just a few minutes.

Upload a photo or PDF of your bill. Our system reads every line, compares each charge to six federal data sources (CMS PFS, NADAC drug benchmarks, federally-required Hospital Price Transparency files, the National Correct Coding Initiative, CMS Hospital Compare quality data, and IRS Publication 78 for charity-care eligibility), and drafts dispute letters for anything worth questioning — with the codes, the math, and the federal-law citations already inside.

  • ✓Line-by-line audit, every charge benchmarked.
  • ✓Up to 5 dispute letters drafted — sign and mail.
  • ✓Charity-care application if your hospital is non-profit.
  • ✓30-day money-back guarantee on single audits.
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Related codes

Codes in the same numerical neighborhood — often appear together on the same bill or get billed in place of each other:

Common questions about CPT 78261

How much does CPT 78261 cost?
Medicare's national-average non-facility allowed amount for CPT 78261 is approximately $191 as of 2026-01-01. Hospital cash-pay rates and commercial-insurance contracted rates for the same code are typically higher; the gap is what most billing reviews focus on.
Why is my CPT 78261 bill higher than $191?
Three common reasons: (1) the rate above is non-facility — bills from inpatient hospital settings can be paid differently, (2) commercial insurance contracts and hospital chargemasters are not bound by Medicare rates and often run several multiples higher, and (3) modifiers on the bill may add or subtract from the base rate. The federally-mandated Hospital Price Transparency file for the facility that billed you is the authoritative source for the cash-pay and insurance-negotiated rates at that specific hospital.
Can I dispute a CPT 78261 charge?
Yes. Federal and state consumer-protection law gives every patient the right to (1) request an itemized statement (HIPAA §164.524), (2) receive a Good Faith Estimate before scheduled service (No Surprises Act, 2022), (3) dispute amounts billed without prior consent or proper notice, and (4) apply for charity care if the facility is a 501(c)(3) non-profit (ACA §501(r)). The benchmark above is one piece of evidence; the hospital's own HPT file is another.
What's the source of this number?
The CMS Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) — published annually by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and required by 42 USC §1395w-4 to be publicly available. We refresh from CMS quarterly. Last updated: 2026-01-01.

P.S. If you’re holding a bill with code 78261on it right now, the fastest path is to run it through the audit — it takes just a few minutes and shows the exact gap between what was charged and the $191 benchmark above. Start the free audit →

P.P.S. If the bill came from a non-profit hospital, federal law (ACA §501(r)) requires them to offer charity care to patients below specific income thresholds. We auto-check 501(c)(3) status against the IRS Publication 78 database and draft the application letter when applicable.

P.P.P.S. The $191number above is a benchmark, not a verdict. The right question on any specific bill is whether the documentation in your medical record supports the code that was billed — that’s what every bill-review process ultimately comes down to.

Source & methodology

Rate from the CMS Physician Fee Schedule, refreshed quarterly from cms.gov. National-average non-facility allowed amount; real Medicare payment adjusts by ±15% per locality (GPCI). The CMS PFS is in the public domain (17 USC §105). Full data-source register at /data-sources.