What a CT scan costs: United States vs. other countries
One CT scan of the abdomen with contrast dye.
Typical price paid to hospitals and doctors for a CT scan, from one report on the same basis: $553 in the United States, $464 in the United Kingdom, $556 in Germany, $260 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 | $553 (iFHP) | With Medicare and no extra insurance: $65 at a surgery center or $70 at a hospital, on average (Medicare.gov) | Not yet sourced |
| Canada | $97.50 in Canadian dollars, not converted: the doctor’s fee in Ontario for reading a CT scan of the abdomen with contrast dye. The scan itself is paid from the hospital budget (Ontario) | No charge for medically necessary hospital and doctor care (Commonwealth Fund) | Half of patients had the scan within 15 days of the order (CIHI) |
| United Kingdom | $464 (iFHP) | No charge. NHS care is free when you use it (Commonwealth Fund) | 9.7% of people waiting had waited 6 weeks or more (England) (NHS England) |
| France | Not yet sourced | National insurance pays 70% of an outpatient visit (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Germany | $556 (iFHP) | Co-payments are capped at 2% of gross income a year (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Japan | ¥10,000 for the scan on a 64-row machine, ¥5,000 for contrast dye and ¥4,500 for reading it: national fees, not added up (MHLW Japan) | 30% of the bill for most adults, with a monthly cap (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Australia | $260 (iFHP) | Not yet sourced | Not yet sourced |
Where no sourced figure exists, the cell says so. We do not fill gaps with estimates.