Colonoscopy price finder: cash prices near you

How to use these colonoscopy prices

A colonoscopy is a test where a doctor looks at the inside of your large intestine, which is also called the colon. The doctor uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera. A cash price, also called a self-pay price, is what a person pays without insurance.

This tool covers four kinds of colonoscopy, because each one has its own billing code and its own price. A diagnostic colonoscopy looks for the cause of a problem and takes no tissue. A colonoscopy with a biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to be tested. A colonoscopy with polyp removal takes out small growths called polyps. A screening colonoscopy checks for colon cancer in a person at average risk who has no symptoms. Pick the one that matches your order.

Use the list to choose two or three places to call. Ask each one for the self-pay price of that exact colonoscopy, and ask what the price includes. Ask who will send separate bills for the doctor, the anesthesia and the lab. Then ask for the answer in writing. Our colonoscopy cost guide walks through each step.

This tool does not give medical advice. Your doctor decides which test is right for you.

What Medicare pays, and why it is a fair price to ask about

Medicare is the federal health plan for people 65 and older and for some younger people with disabilities. Each year it sets the amount it allows for every service, based on what the work costs and on where you live. That amount is not a cash price, and no one has to charge it. It is a public, fair reference point, so you can compare a cash quote with it.

Across the country, before local changes, Medicare allows about $798 for a diagnostic colonoscopy at a surgery center and about $1,238 at a hospital outpatient department. Those totals add up the facility, the doctor and the anesthesia. When you type your ZIP code, the tool shows the amounts for your area, split into each bill. The anesthesia amount assumes 30 minutes of anesthesia time. Compare a hospital's posted cash price with the Facility row, because the hospital price does not include the doctor or the anesthesia.

Surgery centers often cost less

Many colonoscopies are done at surgery centers and at gastroenterology centers, not at hospitals. A surgery center is an outpatient center that is not part of a hospital. These centers are not required to post their prices online the way hospitals are, so you will not find them in the hospital files above. Medicare pays a surgery center less than a hospital outpatient department for the same colonoscopy, as the numbers for your ZIP code show, and cash prices may follow the same pattern. So call both kinds of places.

You have a right to ask for a price in writing. If you are not using insurance and you schedule at least 3 business days ahead, federal law says the provider usually must give you a written estimate of the cost, called a good faith estimate. Our good faith estimate guide explains how to ask. Here is a short script for the phone call.

1. Hello. I do not have insurance, and I would like the self-pay price for a colonoscopy.
2. My order says it is a screening colonoscopy. Is that the code you would use, and what is the price?
3. If my order says it is a diagnostic colonoscopy instead, which code would you use, and what is the price?
4. Does that price include the facility, the doctor, the anesthesia and the lab test of any tissue?
5. What would the price be if the doctor finds and removes a polyp, and can you send it to me in writing?

Where this page gets its facts

• Hospital prices: each hospital's own price file, read in October 2026. The tool shows only prices that passed the checks in our price library methods. We left out lines that were a doctor's fee, an unfinished or reduced procedure, or a different service.
• Hospital addresses: Hospital General Information file, from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
• ZIP code points: the U.S. Census Bureau 2026 ZCTA Gazetteer file.
• Medicare amounts: the 2026 Medicare payment rates for doctors, for surgery centers, for hospital outpatient departments and for anesthesia, from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. You can look up a doctor's fee yourself in the Medicare physician fee schedule search. They are the total Medicare allows, not a cash price.
• Places that list a cash price: the center's own website or a cash-price booking site. We opened each page ourselves in October 2026. We list a place only when the page shows a real cash price, and a price page can change at any time.
• The middle price for a state and for the whole country is counted the same way as on our state price pages. Hospitals that share one identical price file and post the same price count once.

A hospital appears in the hospital list only if it posted a usable cash price for the colonoscopy you picked. Few Maryland hospitals posted a usable colonoscopy price, so there is no Maryland middle price. Federal hospitals, such as VA and military hospitals, are left out.

Your ZIP code stays on your device. After you search, your browser asks our website for three small files. One is named with only the first three digits of your ZIP code, one holds the Medicare amounts for every area and one lists the places that post a price. It also asks for the price lists of the states near you. Our website never gets your full ZIP code.

We are not connected to these hospitals or places. The prices come from their own files and pages, and we may make mistakes. If you see one, please tell us through our contact page.

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Using this with a client

Ask for the client's ZIP code and the test their doctor ordered, then pick the closest match on the list. If it is not listed, the client can call the hospital with the billing code from the doctor's order. Print the list or take a screenshot. Before the test, help them ask the hospital for financial help and for a written Good Faith Estimate. If they already got a bill, they can usually still apply for financial help. If they have no coverage, run the Medicaid and coverage check too.