A PET/CT is one of the most expensive things a person can be sent for on an outpatient basis, and it is usually ordered at the worst possible moment, right after a cancer diagnosis or in the middle of treatment. That combination, high price and low bargaining energy, is why the spread between what different places charge for the identical scan is so wide.
Two things make PET different from other imaging. First, you are buying a radioactive drug along with the scan, and that drug is billed as its own line item. Second, the tracer determines the price far more than the scanner does, so a standard oncology PET and a prostate PSMA PET on the same machine can differ by five thousand dollars. This guide covers what a PET scan costs in 2026 across prepaid marketplaces, freestanding imaging centers and hospital billing, plus what Medicare actually covers.
What Does a PET Scan Cost Without Insurance?
Figures below are published self-pay prices and prepaid marketplace rates as of September 2026, alongside average submitted charges from the CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners file (2024 claims, released May 2026).
| Service / Type | Low | Average | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| PET scan, prepaid cash (MDsave) | $1,323 | $2,717 | $4,525 |
| PET scan, MDsave estimated national average | n/a | $4,553 | n/a |
| Standard FDG PET/CT, published imaging center self-pay | $1,489 | n/a | $1,689 |
| PET scan, all-in self-pay through a nationwide program | $1,000 | n/a | $1,500 |
| Whole body PET scan, Boston market | $1,500 | $2,085 | $3,900 |
| CPT 78815 in a non-facility setting (average billed charge) | n/a | $3,610.82 | n/a |
| CPT 78815, amount Medicare allows (non-facility) | n/a | $1,109.43 | n/a |
| FDG tracer (A9552), average billed charge per study dose | n/a | $761.09 | n/a |
| Specialty tracer PET/CT (PSMA, Amyvid), published self-pay | $4,949 | n/a | $8,209 |
Sources: the prepaid range, $2,717 MDsave average and $4,553 estimated national average come from MDsave’s PET scan listing; $1,489 for a standard FDG study and $1,689 for a whole-body NaF study are Excel Medical Imaging’s published self-pay prices, as are the $4,949 Amyvid and $6,395 to $8,209 PSMA figures; RadiologyAssist publishes a $1,000 starting price nationally and $1,500 all in for Denver; the Boston low, median and high come from New Choice Health’s comparison across 26 local providers; billed-charge, Medicare-allowed and tracer figures are national averages in the CMS 2024 physician file.
Those sources disagree by roughly eightfold from bottom to top, and the disagreement is real rather than a data artifact. A standard FDG study bought as a published cash price and a PSMA study billed through a hospital are not the same transaction. The practical range for someone shopping deliberately for a standard oncology PET/CT is $1,300 to $2,700.
What Drives the Price
The tracer, more than anything else
The radiopharmaceutical is a separately billed product with its own cost curve. In the CMS 2024 file, FDG (HCPCS A9552) carried an average submitted charge of $761.09 per study dose in non-facility settings against a Medicare-allowed amount of $321.41, so on a standard scan the drug alone is roughly a fifth to a quarter of the bill. Move to a targeted agent and the drug becomes most of the bill: Excel Medical Imaging’s published self-pay list runs $6,395 for Locametz, $7,395 for Illucix and $8,209 for Pylarify, all PSMA prostate studies, against $1,489 for the same scanner running FDG.
Where the scan happens
This is the second-largest lever and the one you can actually control. In 2024 CMS data, CPT 78815 carried an average submitted charge of $3,610.82 in non-facility settings while Medicare allowed an average of $1,109.43 for the same code. Published freestanding self-pay rates of $1,489 and $1,500 sit much closer to the allowed amount than to the billed charge. New Choice Health’s Boston data shows the same pattern inside a single metro, with a $1,500 low and a $3,900 high across 26 providers.
Logistics you never see
FDG has a roughly two-hour half-life, so it cannot be stockpiled. It is produced in a cyclotron, delivered on a schedule and decays whether or not you show up. A center that books a dose for a patient who cancels absorbs the whole cost. That is why PET appointments are less flexible than a CT or MRI slot, and why late cancellation fees on PET are unusually steep. Ask about the cancellation policy when you book.
What body area is scanned and whether CT is bundled
Most oncology PET is billed as PET/CT because the CT provides the anatomic map. Excel Medical Imaging’s $1,489 standard FDG price explicitly covers skull to thighs, brain or whole body under one number, while brain fusion studies that add MRI run $2,449 to $2,829. If a quote seems low, confirm whether the CT portion and the radiologist read are inside it.
Whether the read is billed separately
A flat program price bundles the interpretation. RadiologyAssist’s Denver rate of $1,500 states that imaging center fees, radiologist fees, a copy of the report and one copy of the images are all included. A hospital quote is frequently a technical charge only, with the radiology group billing you separately for the read weeks later.
Cash Price vs. Insurance
PET is one of the few expensive scans where insurance, if you have it, is usually the better route, because Medicare and most commercial plans do cover it for cancer.
Medicare’s national coverage determination for FDG PET in oncologic conditions (NCD 220.6.17) nationally covers one FDG PET study to determine the initial anti-tumor treatment strategy for beneficiaries with biopsy-proven or strongly suspected cancer, across essentially every tumor type, with prostate cancer non-covered at that initial stage and a few exceptions for cervix, breast and melanoma. It then covers three FDG PET scans to guide subsequent management after completion of initial anti-cancer therapy, with anything beyond three left to local Medicare Administrative Contractors. Commercial plans generally build their policies on the same framework.
The practical consequence for an uninsured or high-deductible patient: the covered-versus-not question is rarely the problem here. The problem is the setting. A PET billed through a hospital outpatient department against a $7,000 deductible costs you more than the same scan bought outright for $1,489 at a freestanding center. Run that comparison before you assume using insurance is cheaper.
One warning specific to PET: because a scan often gets scheduled the same week as an oncology consult, patients frequently accept whichever facility the ordering office uses. That is the single most expensive default decision in this entire guide.
How to Pay Less
- Ask the ordering office whether the scan can be done at a freestanding center. Most orders are portable. Moving a standard FDG PET/CT from a hospital outpatient department to a center publishing $1,489 to $1,500 can save several thousand dollars on one appointment. Check any quote against our fair price checker.
- Get the quote all in, in writing, before you book. The question is “what is your self-pay price for a PET/CT, including the tracer, the CT and the radiologist read.” If the answer covers only the technical fee, you have not been quoted the real number.
- Compare a prepaid marketplace against the local walk-in rate. MDsave’s national PET range is $1,323 to $4,525 with a $2,717 average, against a $4,553 estimated national average for the same scan bought conventionally. Prepaying locks the price in before the claim exists.
- Pull the hospital’s posted cash rate if the hospital is your only option. Every hospital must publish its standard charges, including a discounted cash price, and PET/CT is almost always on the shoppable-services list. Our hospital price transparency guide walks through finding it.
- Apply for financial assistance before the balance ages. A four-figure imaging bill at a nonprofit hospital is exactly what charity care policies exist for, and eligibility is often far more generous than people expect. Start with our hospital charity care guide and the charity care checker.
- If the bill lands anyway, take it apart. Request an itemized hospital bill so you can see the tracer, the technical charge and the professional read as separate lines, then use our medical bill negotiation guide and negotiation script to get it down. If it has already gone to collections, our guide to medical bills in collections covers your options.
How It Compares to Other Scans
PET/CT is the expensive end of outpatient imaging by a wide margin. A standard FDG study at $1,489 to $2,717 runs several times a CT scan and comfortably above an MRI, and it is an order of magnitude above a DEXA scan or an X-ray.
That gap is mostly the tracer, and it is why a PET is rarely the first test ordered. If a PET has been recommended, it is generally because something cheaper already ran. Pricing it well is the part you control.
This is a cost guide and not medical guidance. Whether a PET scan is the right test, and which tracer belongs on the order, is a conversation for your oncologist. What it should cost, and where to have it done, is what this page is for.
Bottom Line
A standard FDG PET/CT is a $1,489 to $1,500 purchase at freestanding imaging centers that publish a flat all-in rate, and a $1,323 to $4,525 purchase prepaid through MDsave where the national average is $2,717. Hospital-billed pricing runs toward the $3,610.82 average submitted charge in 2024 CMS data, and specialty PSMA or amyloid tracers carry published cash prices of $4,949 to $8,209 no matter where you go. The order is usually portable, the price is not fixed, and asking two questions before you schedule is worth more here than on any other scan.