Cardiac Stress Test: what it covers and what it costs
What does a Cardiac Stress Test cost? Across 33 major U.S. metros, the typical insurer-negotiated price for a Stress Test (CPT 93015 / 93017) runs from about $88 in Jacksonville, FL to $1,538 in Kansas City, MO, read from hospitals' own price-transparency files. 20 of those metros have at least one hospital publishing a self-pay cash price. This page explains what the billing code covers, what the quoted price does and does not include, and what actually drives the spread between hospitals. These are price references from public data — not a quote, a bill, or medical or financial advice.
These figures are aggregated from hospitals' public price-transparency files — not a quote, a bill, an insurance benefit determination, or medical advice. Your actual out-of-pocket cost depends on your insurance plan (deductible, copay, coinsurance, network), the exact service and any complications, and which hospital you use. Always confirm price and coverage with the hospital and your insurer before care.
What a Stress Test price actually covers
A cardiac stress test records how the heart performs under exertion, either from exercise on a treadmill or with a medication that mimics it. The term covers several distinct tests, from a plain exercise ECG to nuclear perfusion imaging.
Code scope. Exercise (treadmill) ECG stress test. 93015 = global/complete code (used when one entity does everything, e.g., a physician office). In a HOSPITAL the facility bills technical-only 93017 (professional read is 93016/93018) - so hospital MRFs commonly list 93017. Both included to catch either. Nuclear stress and stress echo are separate codes.
What is — and isn't — in the price
The facility charge covers the testing suite, monitoring and staff. Supervising-physician interpretation is generally separate. Where the test involves a radiotracer, that agent is usually its own charge.
Why Stress Test prices differ so much between hospitals
This is one of the widest-spread procedures on any hospital's list precisely because "stress test" spans several codes. A simple exercise ECG is inexpensive; a nuclear stress test with perfusion imaging costs multiples of it; a stress echocardiogram sits between them. A published price is only meaningful once the specific test is identified.
What else usually lands on the bill
A resting electrocardiogram is usually billed alongside. Radiotracer agents used in nuclear studies are separate supply charges, and the supervising physician's interpretation is its own fee.
What to ask before you book
Ask exactly which stress test is ordered — exercise ECG, stress echocardiogram, or nuclear perfusion — because the price difference between them is far larger than the difference between hospitals.
Where the money actually moves
The saving here is in which test is ordered rather than where: an exercise ECG costs a fraction of nuclear perfusion imaging. That is a clinical decision, but it is reasonable to ask which is planned and what it will bill.
What the Stress Test numbers show nationally
A Stress Test costs 17.4× as much in Kansas City as in Jacksonville
Across the 33 metros priced here, the typical negotiated rate runs from $88 in Jacksonville, FL to $1,538 in Kansas City, MO — the same billing codes, the same procedure, 1642% apart.
The individual hospitals reporting the lowest and highest Stress Test prices
Lowest: HARPER UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL (Detroit, MI) at $25; MEDSTAR FRANKLIN SQUARE MEDICAL CENTER (Baltimore, MD) at $69; MOUNT SINAI WEST (New York, NY) at $72. Highest: MEDICAL CENTER OF AURORA, THE (Denver, CO) at $4,337; NORTHCREST MEDICAL CENTER (Nashville, TN) at $4,254; PIEDMONT HOSPITAL (Atlanta, GA) at $2,898. These are the figures each hospital published in its own file, not an assessment of the care.
20 of 33 metros have a hospital publishing a self-pay Stress Test price
Cheapest published cash price: $138 (New York). A cash price is what the hospital will accept from someone paying directly; it is not required and many never publish one.
Insurers pay about 80% below the list price for a Stress Test
Across the 26 metros publishing both, the chargemaster list price is typically 80% above what insurers negotiate. The widest gap is in Jacksonville: $3,048 list against $88 negotiated.
How many hospitals actually publish a Stress Test price
221 hospital price-file entries across 33 metros feed this page. A hospital appears only where its own file lists a rate for CPT 93015 / 93017 — where it does not, it is absent from the table rather than filled in with a guess.
Stress Test price by metro
The typical insurer-negotiated price for a Stress Test, by metro — lowest first. 20 of these 33 metros have at least one hospital publishing a self-pay cash price; 27 publish a chargemaster list price. Open a metro for its full hospital-by-hospital breakdown and who those hospitals are.
| Metro | Typical negotiated | Range | Cash | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville, FL | $88 | $88 | $1,128 | 3 |
| Detroit, MI | $126 | $25–$490 | $1,021 | 6 |
| Baltimore, MD | $140 | $69–$183 | — | 4 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $155 | $81–$240 | $745 | 4 |
| Cleveland, OH | $204 | $179–$204 | $1,164 | 8 |
| Birmingham, AL | $212 | $99–$840 | — | 9 |
| Raleigh, NC | $226 | $192–$226 | $431 | 3 |
| Hartford, CT | $233 | $122–$372 | — | 4 |
| Tampa, FL | $238 | $233–$239 | — | 6 |
| Orlando, FL | $239 | $237–$557 | — | 3 |
| Portland, OR | $262 | $258–$1,313 | — | 7 |
| Buffalo, NY | $268 | $263–$417 | — | 3 |
| New York, NY | $274 | $72–$363 | $138 | 7 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $318 | $150–$1,393 | $1,253 | 15 |
| Riverside, CA | $325 | $74–$375 | $861 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $327 | $73–$1,489 | $1,969 | 5 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $332 | $206–$1,106 | $286 | 10 |
| San Diego, CA | $361 | $112–$704 | $1,365 | 6 |
| Seattle, WA | $391 | $83–$1,312 | $449 | 7 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $442 | $183–$1,294 | $1,038 | 8 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $489 | $251–$922 | — | 4 |
| Atlanta, GA | $568 | $126–$2,898 | $1,087 | 9 |
| Washington, DC | $629 | $122–$851 | $1,106 | 8 |
| St. Louis, MO | $652 | $345–$1,000 | $1,341 | 7 |
| Nashville, TN | $722 | $291–$4,254 | — | 9 |
| Miami, FL | $734 | $114–$951 | — | 4 |
| Chicago, IL | $761 | $635–$1,020 | $515 | 3 |
| Dallas, TX | $928 | $646–$2,687 | $1,391 | 10 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $1,008 | $1,006–$1,021 | — | 6 |
| Houston, TX | $1,169 | $653–$1,427 | — | 6 |
| Austin, TX | $1,221 | $304–$1,869 | $956 | 9 |
| Denver, CO | $1,311 | $105–$4,337 | $1,179 | 10 |
| Kansas City, MO | $1,538 | $449–$2,357 | — | 7 |
Source: hospitals' own machine-readable Standard Charges files, published under the U.S. Hospital Price Transparency rule (45 CFR §180.50). Most recent hospital file in this dataset: July 2026. Prices are references, not quotes or bills, and never medical or financial advice — where a hospital reports no price, nothing is shown rather than a guess.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a Stress Test cost?
- Across 33 U.S. metros the typical insurer-negotiated price is about $332, ranging from $88 in Jacksonville to $1,538 in Kansas City. Every figure is read from a named hospital's own price-transparency file for CPT 93015 / 93017.
- Does the price include the doctor's fee?
- The facility charge covers the testing suite, monitoring and staff. Supervising-physician interpretation is generally separate. Where the test involves a radiotracer, that agent is usually its own charge.
- Why do Stress Test prices differ so much between hospitals?
- This is one of the widest-spread procedures on any hospital's list precisely because "stress test" spans several codes. A simple exercise ECG is inexpensive; a nuclear stress test with perfusion imaging costs multiples of it; a stress echocardiogram sits between them. A published price is only meaningful once the specific test is identified.