What an echocardiogram costs if you have no insurance

What an echocardiogram is and what it costs

MedlinePlus is a health site from the National Library of Medicine. It says an echocardiogram is a test that uses sound waves to make pictures of the heart, with no radiation. A trained technician moves a wand over your chest, and a heart doctor reads the pictures. Doctors use it to check the heart's size, how well it pumps and how its valves work.

The New Hampshire Insurance Department runs a public website called NH HealthCost. For a standard echocardiogram with Doppler (billing code 93306), it lists the amount the facility and the doctor who reads the pictures typically charge together. The figures come from insurance claims between April 2024 and June 2025, and the site adds 5 percent for price changes. The statewide average estimate is $3,497, and individual places range from $592 to $5,526 before any discount for people without insurance.

The site warns that these are estimates based on typical payments, and that they do not show what your bill will be. Even so, this is one of the few places where a state government shows real prices side by side.

Hospitals and doctors' offices price the test very differently

On the New Hampshire list, the lowest estimates were $592 to $788, and they came from cardiology and other physician practices. Most hospital estimates ran above $2,000 before discounts. Some hospitals take a large discount off for people without insurance. The site shows 91 percent off at two hospitals, which brings their estimates down to $360 and $440.

The site says the discount shown is the minimum a provider reports. The actual discount depends on your finances and on the provider's charity care policy. So the lowest price on the list was a hospital after its discount. The next lowest were doctors' offices that had no discount to give.

A private office can also post its own price. One cardiology practice in Florida lists $250 for an echocardiogram under its self-pay prices for people without insurance. That is one office, so please treat it as an example and not as a national price. Your own area may be higher or lower.

What Medicare pays as a comparison

Medicare is the federal health plan for people 65 and older and some younger people with disabilities. It publishes what it pays for each service. These amounts are not cash prices, and you cannot use them to buy a test without insurance. They do give a government yardstick for what the test is worth.

• In a doctor's office, Medicare's 2026 fee schedule pays about $197 for the whole test.
• In a hospital outpatient department, Medicare pays the hospital about $558 for the test in 2026.
• The doctor who reads the pictures at a hospital is paid separately, and Medicare's 2026 fee schedule pays about $67 for that part.

The gap between the office figure and the hospital figure matches what the New Hampshire site shows. The same test often costs far more in a hospital setting than in a private office.

What changes the price

Several things can change the total price. Where you have the test is the biggest one, because a hospital adds a facility fee for its space, equipment and staff. The doctor's reading fee is a second charge, and some hospitals bill it separately from the facility fee.

The type of test you have also changes the price. MedlinePlus describes a more involved test called a transesophageal echocardiogram. A tube with a tiny ultrasound device is guided down the throat, and you get medicine to relax you and numb your throat. A stress echocardiogram adds exercise or medicine that makes the heart work harder. Each of these is a different test, so ask for its price on its own.

Contrast can add to the bill as well. MedlinePlus says that when the pictures are hard to see, the technician may inject a little liquid through an IV. Ask whether contrast is likely and what it adds to the bill.

How to find a lower price

A doctor usually has to order an echocardiogram, so start by asking your primary care doctor or cardiologist which test you need. Then ask the office for a bundled cash price, which is one price that covers the scan and the doctor's reading. Our guide on asking for the cash price has word-for-word phone scripts.

You also have a right to a good faith estimate if you pay on your own. A provider usually must give an uninsured or self-pay patient a written estimate of the cost. Our guide on the good faith estimate explains how to ask. Federal rules also require every hospital to post its prices online. Our hospital price library can help you look up what hospitals near you list.

If a hospital is the only choice, ask about financial help before the test. Nonprofit hospitals must have a financial assistance policy that can lower or erase a bill for people with lower incomes. Our guide on hospital financial assistance shows how to apply. A related test is the exercise test, and our page on stress test costs covers it.

A cash-pay doctor on a monthly membership can examine you, order the test and explain the results. Direct primary care usually costs $50 to $200 a month, and you can search for a cash-pay doctor near you.

When to get care right away

Chest pain, trouble breathing, fainting or a very fast heartbeat can be signs of an emergency. Please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room first, and think about cost later. Emergency rooms must see you whether or not you have insurance. This page gives general information and is not medical advice.

If a doctor has already told you that you need this test, please do not put it off because of the price. Call the office and the billing department, say that cost is the worry, and ask what they can do.