CPT 78452 · professional fee

Ht muscle image spect mult (CPT 78452): negotiated rates by payer and state

What UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield pay for CPT 78452, from their published in-network rate files.

Cardiology Internal medicineSnapshot Aug 2026Professional fee only

National summary

Commercial in-network, four payers combined, professional fee

Median rate

$617

P10 to P90: $383 to $1,207

vs Medicare

144%

non-facility rate $427.87

Payer spread

1.36×

UHC $681 vs Aetna $499

State spread

3.4×

AK $1,292 to FL $382

10,478 sampled providers11,826 TINs51 statesSample-based · how this is calculated

What the data shows

Generated from this code's own numbers

UnitedHealthcare has the highest median for CPT 78452 in the files analyzed, at $681, 36% above Aetna ($499), the lowest of the 4 payers shown.

The state spread is 3.4×: Alaska has the highest median at $1,292 and Florida the lowest at $382, a gap larger than the gap between the highest and lowest payer.

Commercial rates run 144% of the Medicare non-facility rate ($427.87), which ranks 130th of 228 tracked codes by commercial-to-Medicare ratio.

Rates are tightest within Aetna (interquartile range $199) and widest within UnitedHealthcare ($448).

This is a top-3 code for cardiology by Medicare allowed dollars, so it carries real revenue weight for that specialty.

Rates by payer

Median of per-provider median rates, with interquartile range

Payer	Median	P25	P75	vs national	Rank	Providers	Position
UnitedHealthcare	$681	$509	$957	+10%	1	8,550	159% of Medicare
Cigna	$654	$500	$899	+6%	2	8,172	153% of Medicare
Blue Cross Blue Shield	$644	$436	$854	+4%	3	7,749	150% of Medicare
Aetna	$499	$431	$630	-19%	4	6,236	117% of Medicare

Rate distribution

Box = P25 to P75, whiskers = P10 to P90, tick = median, dashed line = Medicare non-facility ($427.87)

Rates by state

Median across payers · 51 states with enough data

Rank	State	Median	vs national	Highest payer	Lowest payer	Providers
1	Alaska	$1,292	+110%	BCBS	Cigna	116
2	Wisconsin	$1,093	+77%	UHC	Cigna	205
3	Washington	$942	+53%	Cigna	Aetna	219
4	Oregon	$934	+51%	UHC	Aetna	191
5	Minnesota	$894	+45%	UHC	Aetna	214
6	Wyoming	$885	+44%	BCBS	Aetna	125
7	South Dakota	$863	+40%	Cigna	Aetna	157
8	North Dakota	$848	+37%	BCBS	Aetna	138
9	Nebraska	$840	+36%	Cigna	Aetna	169
10	Georgia	$801	+30%	UHC	Aetna	249
11	Idaho	$793	+29%	Aetna	UHC	171
12	Connecticut	$768	+24%	UHC	Aetna	236
13	North Carolina	$757	+23%	UHC	Aetna	233
14	Iowa	$752	+22%	Cigna	Aetna	212
15	District of Columbia	$709	+15%	UHC	BCBS	162
16	Utah	$692	+12%	BCBS	Aetna	205
17	Massachusetts	$692	+12%	UHC	Aetna	221
18	New Hampshire	$687	+11%	Cigna	Aetna	226
19	Rhode Island	$681	+10%	UHC	Aetna	188
20	Colorado	$671	+9%	UHC	Aetna	241
21	Kansas	$667	+8%	BCBS	Aetna	231
22	Vermont	$650	+5%	UHC	Aetna	131
23	Pennsylvania	$639	+4%	UHC	Aetna	206
24	New Jersey	$623	+1%	Cigna	Aetna	224
25	Hawaii	$621	+1%	BCBS	Aetna	132
26	Mississippi	$610	-1%	BCBS	UHC	233
27	Ohio	$607	-2%	Cigna	Aetna	237
28	Maine	$602	-2%	UHC	Aetna	218
29	Missouri	$600	-3%	UHC	BCBS	234
30	Arkansas	$594	-4%	UHC	BCBS	241
31	California	$593	-4%	Cigna	Aetna	205
32	Illinois	$573	-7%	UHC	BCBS	207
33	Montana	$557	-10%	Cigna	BCBS	152
34	New York	$555	-10%	Cigna	Aetna	236
35	South Carolina	$555	-10%	UHC	Aetna	213
36	Michigan	$552	-10%	Cigna	Aetna	226
37	Tennessee	$552	-10%	BCBS	Aetna	229
38	Kentucky	$552	-10%	Cigna	Aetna	255
39	Louisiana	$539	-13%	UHC	BCBS	223
40	Virginia	$534	-13%	UHC	Aetna	220
41	New Mexico	$533	-14%	Cigna	BCBS	187
42	Indiana	$531	-14%	UHC	Aetna	244
43	Alabama	$531	-14%	BCBS	Cigna	229
44	West Virginia	$516	-16%	UHC	Aetna	192
45	Delaware	$487	-21%	UHC	BCBS	179
46	Arizona	$479	-22%	BCBS	Aetna	193
47	Maryland	$466	-24%	Cigna	BCBS	205
48	Nevada	$453	-27%	Cigna	UHC	226
49	Texas	$428	-31%	UHC	BCBS	250
50	Oklahoma	$424	-31%	UHC	BCBS	228
51	Florida	$382	-38%	BCBS	Aetna	214

Frequently asked questions

Answers use this page's data

Which payer has the highest median rate for CPT 78452?

In the files we analyzed, UnitedHealthcare, at a median of $681 across 8,550 sampled providers. Aetna is lowest at $499, 36% lower than the highest.

How does the commercial rate compare with Medicare?

The national median is 144% of the 2026 Medicare non-facility rate of $427.87.

Which state has the highest median for CPT 78452?

Alaska has the highest median at $1,292; Florida has the lowest at $382.

Is this a professional fee?

These are professional (physician) fees only. Facility, device and implant payments are priced separately and are not included.

How current is this data?

It is the August 2026 snapshot of each payer's in-network rate file. Sources and filters are listed in the methodology below.

Methodology

How these numbers are calculated

Source: in-network negotiated-rate files published under the federal Transparency in Coverage rule, August 2026 snapshot: UnitedHealthcare Choice plans (74 files); Aetna commercial plans (70 files); Cigna national PPO (1 files); BCBS licensees' own-network files (5,387 files). Payer comparisons describe these files, not each payer's entire book of business.
Sample: rates come from a random sample of up to 150 providers per state and specialty. Counts on this page are sampled providers and TINs, not totals.
Which providers count: only providers in a specialty relevant to the code, because a rate in a payer file attaches to a provider group and is listed under every provider in that group.
Filters: fee-for-service, professional billing class, no modifier, negotiated or fee-schedule dollar rates. Rates outside 1% to 1,000% of the Medicare rate are excluded.
Statistic: one median rate per provider, then percentiles across providers. A cell is shown only with at least 15 sampled providers and 4 TINs.
Medicare benchmark: CY2026 national physician fee schedule, non-QPP conversion factor, unadjusted for locality. Where the non-facility rate is more than twice the facility rate (office rates that include device or supply cost), the facility rate is used so comparisons are like for like.

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