What a chest X-ray costs: United States vs. other countries
A chest X-ray with two views.
Typical price paid to hospitals and doctors for a chest X-ray, from one report on the same basis: $64 in the United States, $151 in the United Kingdom, $57 in Germany, $34 in Australia. Source: International Health Care Cost Comparison Report 2024 (Report dated October 2024. Prices are for 2022.). These are not what one patient was charged; what patients pay is in the table.
| Country | Price paid to the hospital | What a patient usually pays | Typical wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $64 (iFHP) | With Medicare and no extra insurance: $10 at a surgery center or $23 at a hospital, on average (Medicare.gov) | Not yet sourced |
| Canada | $21.90 for taking a two-view chest X-ray and $11.70 for reading it, in Canadian dollars, not converted: fees in Ontario’s schedule, not added up (Ontario) | No charge for medically necessary hospital and doctor care (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| United Kingdom | $151 (iFHP) | No charge. NHS care is free when you use it (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| France | Not yet sourced | National insurance pays 70% of an outpatient visit (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Germany | $57 (iFHP) | Co-payments are capped at 2% of gross income a year (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Japan | ¥850 for reading and ¥680 for taking the first digital image; a second image is charged at half: national fees, not added up (MHLW Japan) | 30% of the bill for most adults, with a monthly cap (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Australia | $34 (iFHP) | Not yet sourced | Not yet sourced |
Where no sourced figure exists, the cell says so. We do not fill gaps with estimates.