Mobile X-Ray Covered by Medicare in Georgia

Usually yes, with one important exception. Medicare Part B covers portable X-ray ordered by a physician at a patient's home or other location, and the provider bills Medicare directly. You generally owe 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after your Part B deductible is met. The exception is a resident in a Medicare-covered Part A skilled nursing facility stay: there, the technical portion of the X-ray and the cost of bringing the equipment are bundled into what Medicare already pays the nursing facility, so the facility — not Part B — covers them, and only the radiologist's reading is billed to Part B.

Your doctor writes a prescription for the X-ray. A mobile imaging provider sends a radiologic technologist to your home with portable equipment. The technologist performs the X-ray at your bedside. Images go to a radiologist for interpretation. Results reach your doctor.

With Medicare Part B you owe 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after your $283 annual deductible. For portable imaging that usually works out to about $16–$65 per exam, because the claim includes charges for bringing and setting up the equipment as well as the X-ray itself. Below your deductible you owe the full approved amount. Ask the provider: do you accept Medicare assignment? A supplier that accepts assignment bills Medicare directly and you owe the coinsurance. One that does not may ask you to pay the full amount up front and can charge up to 15% above the Medicare-approved amount. Without insurance, ask each provider for their self-pay price — it varies and we do not publish a single figure.

Mobile imaging at home is for patients who have difficulty traveling to an imaging facility. This includes elderly and homebound individuals, patients recovering from surgery, people with mobility limitations, and those in home health or hospice care. Your physician determines medical necessity.

Stat Imaging lists 23 mobile imaging providers with a registered office in Georgia. Search by ZIP code to find providers near your home. Filter by the type of imaging you need.