I want a Cat scan done on my chest, how much will it cost if I don't have insurance?

Why does a cat scan cost so much? Is the patient getting ripped off? Can I get a temporary visa, and get a free cat scan in places like Canada, or the UK?

maybe you could get temporary insurance like cobra or something

It would fail to be a cat scan...it'd be an MRI. I'm not sure why they are so expensive...

No charge in Canada if a doctor orders a scan (you have already 'paid' through taxes)... but you'd have to live in Canada for something like 6 months to join Medicare. Some Provinces have a fee to belong. Otherwise... NO... a visa or simple tourist class does not qualify for Medicare....

To me, I work in the hospital, it cost a lot because they invested a lot of money to buy that machine, plus insurance, maintenance and pay for the physicians to do cast scan and other physicians to read that report.... too many things involved.... fist you just thought it ripped off but i think that the reason.

First of all, do you live in a city or county that has a county hospital? Usually they have some kind of programs for you since you don't have insurance. I am a nurse and I have seen bills of CT's (cat scan) of the chest and they can cost around 1500.00-2000.00. Now this is depending on whether the Dr. has ordered any contrast media (dye) or not. Sometimes the CT's without the contrast are cheaper, but the idea of the contrast is that they can see things more clearly. They put the dye through an Intravenous line inserted in your forearm, and the Dr's are able to see the lungs, and chest much more clearly than if they did not use contrast. I hope I was able to give you some type of feedback. As far as getting a temporary visa to go to Canada just for a CT, I don't think that would work, because you would have to establish yourself there first before getting the medical care that you would need. My best answer would be is that if you live in a county where they can offer you some type of assistance through the county hospital. Usually some of the teachings hospitals or university hospitals are the county ones, and they can offer some type of program that will pay for that CT for you for little to nothing. I hope this helps.

I doubt if you could get a temporary Visa to get this done. However, you can call around your city/town and check prices. This is often done by patients to get the lowest price for their insurance company to get their rates down. I worked for a family practice physician for many years and we had many, many patients who did not have insurance and we had several facilities that we worked with who would do lower cost x-ray testing for these patients. They would do sliding scale or even sometimes would do them for free depending upon the circumstances involved. Please, please do not be afraid to ask your physician or their nursing staff to help you out as this is part of their job duties. I would be shocked if they refused or didn't know of a place that would at least work with you on a payment plan and give you a discount rate. Now, this is for the scan only, the professional fee is a whole different story and most of the time the radiologist will not give you a discount, so don't be disappointed. Also call your county health department and ask them also. Good luck and I hope that everything works out for you.

I think the question is, why do you think you need one? Going to an ER in a county hospital would not guarantee a CT scan unless the MD evaluating you thought it was an emergency. You can't just order your own tests Maybe if you opted for a less expensive doctor's visit, he could either re-assure you, or order an xray that might be just as efficient for your problem. People are always asking for things, they need to start at square one, not jump to 5!