Lung cancer screening CT cost in San Francisco (2026): what Aetna, Anthem, Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna pay

Low-dose CT scan for lung cancer screening, CPT 71271. Also called low-dose CT lung screening, LDCT, lung cancer screening scan. In-network rates by insurer.

Lung cancer screening CT cost in San Francisco, 2026: in the San Francisco area, insurers pay a typical $194 for a lung cancer screening CT at doctors' offices and imaging centers. By insurer, the typical office rate runs from $178 (Blue Shield of California) to $227 (Cigna). Original Medicare's rate is $178 here. Rates from five insurers' published files, for providers within 20 miles of downtown San Francisco.

What each insurer pays

InsurerOffices and imaging centers
median, middle half		Billing entities
Anthem Blue Cross$209
$173 to $290		213
Blue Shield of California$178
$162 to $245		59
Aetna$183
$155 to $257		95
UnitedHealthcare$205
$158 to $268		87
Cigna$227
$170 to $293		87
Original Medicare$178-

Anthem Blue Cross figures reflect the menu of rates Anthem lists across its contracts, not contract-specific prices (why). Kaiser Permanente is not listed. Most Kaiser care is prepaid inside its own system, and it does not publish usable per-service rates.

Anthem Blue Cross negotiated rate for a lung cancer screening CT in San Francisco

Across 213 billing entities in the San Francisco area, the middle of Anthem's rate menu for a lung cancer screening CT at offices and imaging centers is $209, and the middle half of those values runs from $173 to $290. That office median is 1.2 times what Original Medicare pays. Anthem lists the same menu of rates under nearly every contract, so these figures show the middle of that menu, not the rate a specific provider is paid. For your plan's exact price, use Anthem's Find Care and cost estimates.

Blue Shield of California negotiated rate for a lung cancer screening CT in San Francisco

Blue Shield of California pays a median of $178 for a lung cancer screening CT at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 59 billing entities between $162 and $245. That office median is slightly below what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use Blue Shield's Treatment Cost Estimator.

Aetna negotiated rate for a lung cancer screening CT in San Francisco

Aetna pays a median of $183 for a lung cancer screening CT at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 95 billing entities between $155 and $257. That office median is about the same as what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use Aetna's Find Care cost estimates.

UnitedHealthcare negotiated rate for a lung cancer screening CT in San Francisco

UnitedHealthcare pays a median of $205 for a lung cancer screening CT at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 87 billing entities between $158 and $268. That office median is 1.2 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use UnitedHealthcare's price transparency tool.

Cigna negotiated rate for a lung cancer screening CT in San Francisco

Cigna pays a median of $227 for a lung cancer screening CT at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 87 billing entities between $170 and $293. That office median is 1.3 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use the myCigna cost estimator (sign in).

About a lung cancer screening CT

A yearly low-dose CT of the chest to screen for lung cancer in people without symptoms. It is recommended for adults 50 to 80 who have smoked at least 20 pack-years (for example, a pack a day for 20 years) and still smoke or quit within the past 15 years. Original Medicare covers it for ages 50 to 77 and requires a shared decision-making visit before the first scan. Billing code: CPT 71271.

What the price covers

  • Rates here are for the whole service billed as one charge: the scan and the radiologist's reading.
  • Under the Affordable Care Act, most plans must cover lung cancer screening with no cost to you when you meet the screening criteria and use an in-network provider. The rates on this page are what the insurer pays the provider, not your share.
  • If the screening finds something that needs a closer look, follow-up scans are usually billed as diagnostic tests, where your deductible and coinsurance can apply.

Paying without insurance

The rates on this page are what insurers pay in network, not cash prices. If you are paying yourself, they are still a useful benchmark: ask the provider for its self-pay price before you book and compare it with these rates and with Original Medicare's $178 for a lung cancer screening CT in San Francisco. Many freestanding imaging centers post cash prices for scans. Hospitals must publish a discounted cash price under federal price transparency rules, and if you are uninsured or paying yourself, the No Surprises Act entitles you to a written good faith estimate before scheduled care.

Get the price for your exact plan

An insurer has many contracts, and each plan uses one of them. The figures on this page cover all of an insurer's contracts in the area. The price for your plan depends on which one applies, and that is set by your employer or the plan name on your insurance card.

Your insurer's own cost tool gives a plan-specific estimate once you sign in:

AI assistants can look it up too. Arlo's free price transparency API and the Arlo MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT take a service, a ZIP code and a plan, and return nearby in-network providers with their negotiated rates.

Where these numbers come from

Rates come from the price transparency files Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna publish, for providers within 20 miles of downtown San Francisco. We clean the files before summarizing them and only show an insurer when enough providers report a rate. Medicare figures are from the 2026 Physician Fee Schedule. More on how these pages are built.