CT Abdomen and Pelvis price: Medicare anchor and facility lever
Anchor for CT Abdomen and Pelvis - CPT 74177
$294.96
Professional (26) $85.62 plus technical (TC) $209.34.
Hospital OPPS facility anchor, this code billed alone: $356.43 (APC 5572, Level 2 Imaging with Contrast; national unadjusted, before wage-index adjustment).
Composite APC 8006: $438.90 (multi-study only, national unadjusted).
CT of the abdomen and pelvis with contrast is the most common reason people compare CT prices, and it is also a code family where a one-letter difference on the order changes the bill. 74176, 74177 and 74178 cover the same body area with no contrast, contrast, and both passes. Match the code on your order before you compare two facilities.
CPT code
74177
Computed tomography, abdomen and pelvis; with contrast material(s)
CPT 74177 is the with-contrast abdomen and pelvis code. Without contrast is 74176 and without followed by with is 74178. Confirm which code was ordered before comparing prices.
The codes this visit can be billed under
| CPT | PFS office or global | PFS facility (professional) | Global period | Hospital single-service APC | Minimum Medicare copay at hospital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74177 (this page) | $294.96 | $294.96 | not a surgical global | $356.43 (APC 5572) | $71.29 |
| 74176 | $181.27 | $181.27 | not a surgical global | $243.77 (APC 5523) | $48.76 |
| 74178 | $332.09 | $332.09 | not a surgical global | $356.43 (APC 5572) | $71.29 |
Billed alone in a hospital, 74177 maps to APC 5572 at $356.43 with a minimum unadjusted copayment of $71.29. The without-contrast version, 74176, maps to the lower APC 5523, and 74178 shares APC 5572 with 74177 even though its PFS global anchor is higher at $332.09.
That last point is a useful quote check: in a hospital, moving from 74177 to 74178 changes the professional and imaging-center anchors but not the single-service facility APC. In an imaging center the global amount moves from $294.96 to $332.09. If a quote changes sharply between those two codes, ask which layer changed.
For a Medicare patient billed in a hospital, the minimum unadjusted copayment on the facility line is $71.29 for 74177 alone, and the radiologist's coinsurance comes on top of it. At an imaging center the whole service is one global fee schedule amount of $294.96, so there is one cost-sharing calculation instead of two. That structural difference is worth knowing before choosing where a scheduled scan is done.
Inside and outside the 74177 anchor
Covered by the anchor
- Scanner time and image acquisition
- IV contrast administration for 74177
- Radiologist interpretation and written report (professional component)
Billed outside it
- Oral contrast preparation charged separately by some facilities
- Sedation, when used
- The ordering visit, labs, and follow-up visit
- Additional body areas or a separate CT chest billed the same day
Why prices vary for CPT 74177
CT with contrast maps to a higher OPPS composite than CT without contrast, and the technical component is a large share of the PFS global amount. Hospital outpatient departments bill the OPPS facility rate plus the professional fee. Imaging centers bill the PFS global amount. That split is why the facility-type lever matters more for CT than for a plain X-ray.
Ask for the price at a freestanding imaging center and at the hospital outpatient department using the same CPT code, and confirm whether oral and IV contrast are included.
Questions specific to CT abdomen/pelvis
- Which of the three codes, 74176, 74177 or 74178, is on the order?
- Is oral contrast, IV contrast, or both included in the quoted price?
- Will the reading radiologist bill separately from the facility?
- If the protocol changes on the day, which code will be billed and at what written price?
CT Abdomen and Pelvis: billing questions
What is the difference between 74176, 74177 and 74178?
All three are CT of the abdomen and pelvis. 74176 is without contrast, 74177 is with contrast, and 74178 is without contrast followed by contrast. Each has its own Medicare anchor, so a price is only comparable when the code matches.
Why does a hospital charge the same facility amount for 74177 and 74178?
Under the CY2026 OPPS addenda both codes map to the same single-service APC 5572 when billed alone. The professional fee and the imaging-center global amount still differ between the two codes.
Does the CT anchor include the contrast agent?
The anchor is the Medicare payment for the CPT code. Whether a facility's cash price includes the agent is the facility's choice, so ask whether contrast appears inside the total or as a separate line.
How much of the 74177 global anchor is the radiologist's reading?
Of the CY2026 Michigan Locality 01 global anchor of $294.96, the professional component is $85.62 and the rest is technical. In a hospital, the technical work is paid instead through the hospital's APC, which is why a hospital quote and an imaging-center quote are built differently.