CT Head price: Medicare anchor and facility lever
Anchor for CT Head - CPT 70450
$105.23
Professional (26) $40.21 plus technical (TC) $65.03.
Hospital OPPS facility anchor, this code billed alone: $106.81 (APC 5522, Level 2 Imaging without Contrast; national unadjusted, before wage-index adjustment).
Composite APC 8005: $226.07 (multi-study only, national unadjusted).
Head CT without contrast is often ordered from an emergency department, which matters for price: the same CPT 70450 can arrive on an ER claim with a visit-level charge beside it, or as a scheduled outpatient scan with only the imaging lines. This page covers the scan itself; the ER visit level is priced separately.
CPT code
70450
Computed tomography, head or brain; without contrast material
CPT 70450 is without contrast. With contrast is 70460 and without followed by with is 70470.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70450 (this page) | $105.23 | $105.23 | not a surgical global | $106.81 (APC 5522) | $21.37 |
| 70460 | $146.56 | $146.56 | not a surgical global | $179.20 (APC 5571) | $35.84 |
| 70470 | $170.58 | $170.58 | not a surgical global | $179.20 (APC 5571) | $35.84 |
Billed alone in a hospital, 70450 maps to APC 5522 at $106.81 with a minimum unadjusted copayment of $21.37. With contrast (70460) and without followed by with (70470) both map to the higher APC 5571 at $179.20, so adding contrast moves the hospital facility amount as well as the professional anchor.
For a scheduled outpatient head CT, ask for the cash price for 70450 in writing and whether the radiologist's reading, $40.21 as a Medicare professional anchor, is billed separately. At an imaging center, the comparable global anchor is $105.23.
Billed alone, 70450 is paid through single-service APC 5522. The CT without contrast composite on record, APC 8005, pays more, but only when two or more qualifying CT studies are billed on the same claim, so a hospital estimate for one head CT should be built on the single-service figure. CMS Addendum B lists 70450 with status indicator Q3.
Inside and outside the 70450 anchor
Covered by the anchor
- Scanner time and image acquisition
- Radiologist interpretation and written report (professional component)
Billed outside it
- Contrast material when a different code is used
- Sedation, when used
- The ordering visit and follow-up visit
Why prices vary for CPT 70450
Head CT without contrast is a shorter study than abdomen and pelvis CT, so both the PFS global amount and the OPPS composite sit lower. The facility-type pattern is the same: hospital OPPS facility payment plus professional fee versus imaging-center global payment.
If your clinician allows a choice of site, price the same CPT code at an imaging center and a hospital outpatient department and compare the all-in cash quote, not just the facility fee.
Questions specific to CT head
- Is the scan scheduled as an outpatient study or billed as part of an emergency visit?
- Is the order for 70450, or could contrast be added and change the code to 70470?
- Does the quote include the radiologist reading, or does a separate group bill it?
CT Head: billing questions
What changes if contrast is used?
The code changes to 70460 for contrast only or 70470 for without then with. In a hospital both map to APC 5571, which pays more than the APC used for 70450, and the professional anchor rises too.
Is a scheduled head CT billed the same way in an imaging center?
An imaging center usually bills one global fee schedule amount for 70450, with no separate hospital facility line. That is the same payment-system split that applies to other imaging codes on this site.
What is the Medicare hospital copayment for a head CT without contrast?
In the CY2026 OPPS Addendum B, 70450 billed alone maps to APC 5522 with a minimum unadjusted copayment of $21.37, before wage-index adjustment. The radiologist's coinsurance is separate.