Scans and imaging CPT 70491 Inpatient — admitted to hospital

Neck CT with contrast cost in Santa Cruz, CA — inpatient

In Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, 2 hospitals list a cash price for neck soft tissue CT scan with contrast as an inpatient: from $3,887.10 to $5,428.86, with a median of $4,657.98. The lowest listed price is at Dominican Hospital — $770.88 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $2,675.65 at 210 hospitals.

Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 70491, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 28, 2026 and Sep 15, 2026.

Lowest$3,887.10Dominican Hospital

Median$4,657.98half of hospitals charge less

Highest$5,428.86in this market

Difference1.4×highest vs lowest

Where each hospital's price falls

Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA.

median

Lowest $3,887.10Highest $5,428.86

Hospitals, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	Insurers pay	Off list
Dominican Hospital lowest Santa Cruz, CA · (831) 462-7700 CT SOFT TISSUE NECK W CON File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file	$3,887.10	$8,638.00	$6,910.40–$7,342.30	55%
Watsonville Community Hospital Watsonville, CA · (831) 724-4741 CT-NECK SOFT TIS W+1 more line at this price File of Sep 15, 2026 · source file	$5,428.86	$9,048.10	$250.68–$9,048.10	40%

Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.

Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking.

List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth.

Insurers pay The lowest and highest rates this hospital has agreed with insurance plans for the same item, from its price file. If the cash price is below what your plan pays and you have not met your deductible, paying cash can cost you less.

Off list How much lower the cash price is than the list price.

Inpatient: lowest $3,887.10, median $4,657.98, highest $5,428.86 — a 1.4× difference within the same market.

As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 2 facilities here, median $4,657.98 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.

Cash or insurance?

At 2 of 2 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at 1 it is below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.

What it is

A neck CT with contrast makes cross-section pictures of the throat, glands, lymph nodes and airway after dye is injected into a vein. It is used for a neck lump, a deep throat infection or abscess, and to stage head and neck cancer.

What the price covers

The hospital price usually covers the scan and any contrast dye. The radiologist's reading is often billed separately.