A DEXA scan might be free, cost around $40 to $60, or run several hundred dollars. At Longevity Benchmark, we've found that when readers ask how much a DEXA scan costs, what they often really want to know is whether insurance will cover it. That depends in part on which type of scan they're getting: a diagnostic bone density study or a retail body composition report.
The Verdict
DEXA Scan Cost by Which Scan You Book
Two scans share the DEXA name, and they are priced on completely different terms. One is a diagnostic bone density study a clinician orders and an insurer adjudicates. The other is a body composition report you buy the way you buy a haircut.
| What you are buying | Typical price | Who pays | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bone density DEXA ordered by a clinician | Often $0 | Medicare Part B or a commercial plan, when a qualifying diagnosis is on the claim | A T-score and Z-score, interpreted by a radiologist and filed in your medical record |
| Bone density DEXA with no qualifying diagnosis | Commonly in the low hundreds of dollars | You, at the facility cash rate | The same scan and the same read, billed to you instead of an insurer |
| Body composition DEXA at a consumer studio | BodySpec publishes $40 to $60 per scan | You, always | Fat mass, lean mass, a visceral fat estimate and a bone number that is not a diagnosis |
| Body composition DEXA booked through a lab brand | Quest Health lists it starting at $100 | You, always | The same body composition report, delivered by Fitnescity rather than by Quest |
Treat every figure above as a band rather than a quote. Hospital radiology departments set their own cash rates, and two facilities in the same metro area can differ by more than a hundred dollars for identical imaging. Under the Hospital Price Transparency rule, hospitals have to publish those cash prices in a machine-readable file and a consumer display. You can get your own local number before you book, rather than arguing about the bill afterwards.
When a DEXA Scan Is Covered by Insurance and Medicare
Medicare Part B covers a bone mass measurement once every 24 months, and a qualifying beneficiary pays nothing when the provider accepts assignment. Medicare lists five situations that qualify:
- A woman whose doctor determines she is estrogen-deficient and at risk for osteoporosis
- X-rays that show possible osteoporosis, osteopenia or vertebral fractures
- Taking prednisone or steroid-type drugs, or planning to start them
- A diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism
- Monitoring whether osteoporosis drug therapy is working
More frequent scanning is possible when it is medically necessary. The Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, chapter 15, section 80.5, gives monitoring of long-term glucocorticoid therapy as an example, and the ordering clinician documents the reason on the claim.
Commercial plans are worded more loosely and behave much the same. Most of them follow the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). In January 2025 the Task Force gave a B recommendation to screening every woman aged 65 and over. It extended that recommendation to postmenopausal women under 65 whose risk assessment puts them at increased risk. For men it issued an I statement, meaning the evidence is insufficient in either direction. That is why a healthy 45-year-old man who asks for a screening bone density scan usually receives a bill. Find that out before the appointment rather than after.
How the CPT Code and Diagnosis Code Set Your DEXA Scan Cost
Two codes on the claim decide coverage. The machine you were scanned on does not. The procedure code comes from the American Medical Association and its Current Procedural Terminology set. Axial DEXA of the hips and spine is 77080. Peripheral sites such as the forearm or heel are 77081. Code 77085 covers an axial study with a vertebral fracture assessment in the same session.
The diagnosis code comes from ICD-10-CM, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sets out covered bone density indications in national coverage determination 150.3, which includes age-related osteoporosis and the osteopenia codes. Z13.820, the screening code, shows up on a lot of DEXA claims and is a common denial by itself. A screening code does not document any of the five qualifying conditions.
A denial is often a coding problem rather than a coverage decision. If yours comes back rejected, ask the ordering clinician which diagnosis code went on the claim, then compare it against the CMS list of covered diagnosis codes. A qualifying condition sitting in your chart but missing from the claim is correctable.
Why the Cheapest DEXA Scan near Me Costs More Later
A scan you cannot compare against your previous one has given you a number and told you nothing about change. The International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) states the rule directly in its official positions: patients should return to the same DXA device used for their most recent prior study. Each facility has to measure its own precision error and calculate a least significant change (LSC), the smallest difference between two scans that is not measurement noise. Manufacturer-supplied precision figures do not count.
Across machines the position is firmer. ISCD says not to report a change in bone mineral density between instruments that have not been cross-calibrated, and a facility that skips that step has to start a new baseline rather than compare. Our guide to reading a DEXA T-score sets out the cross-calibration protocol itself.
What we see readers get wrong most often is booking the second scan wherever the introductory offer happens to be. Saving a few dollars on scan two costs you the comparison that was the reason for scan one. The same logic applies to body composition. If you want to know whether six months of training added lean mass, the useful scan is the one taken on the machine that produced your baseline. Our guide to DEXA body composition results covers which of those numbers move first.
What a DEXA Scan Machine Costs
Neither Hologic nor GE HealthCare publishes a list price for a clinical axial DXA system, and both sell by quote. A new densitometer is a capital purchase that arrives with a shielded room, a service contract and a trained technologist attached to it. Refurbished units trade on a secondary market at a fraction of new pricing. Any figure quoted for a DEXA machine without naming the model, the year and the condition is a guess.
The equipment cost reaches your bill through volume. A consumer scanning company such as BodySpec or DexaFit runs one machine at high throughput with no radiologist attached, which is how a scan lands near $50. A hospital spreads similar equipment costs across a smaller number of bone density studies and adds a professional read on top. That is how the same technology reaches a few hundred dollars for the patient.
The Cheapest Legitimate Route to Each Scan
Each of the two scans has a cheapest route, and neither route involves haggling.
| What you want | Cheapest route | What it costs | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| A bone density T-score | Ask a clinician whether you meet one of Medicare’s five conditions, then have them order CPT 77080 | $0 under Part B when you qualify and the provider accepts assignment | A denial usually traces to the diagnosis code, so read it before you pay anything |
| A bone density T-score with no qualifying condition | Compare hospital cash rates from their published price files, then ask for the self-pay rate before the appointment | Low hundreds of dollars, and it varies by facility | The self-pay rate is often below the billed rate, and it is rarely offered unless you ask |
| Body fat, lean mass and visceral fat | Book a consumer body composition scan, and buy a multi-scan package if you intend to repeat it | Around $40 to $60 per scan at BodySpec’s published rate | The result is only worth repeating at the same location |
| A single cheap scan | Groupon offers and studio intro rates | The lowest headline price on this page | One scan on a machine you may never return to gives you a number and no trend |
Who Should Skip the DEXA Scan Entirely
A healthy adult under 50 with no fracture history, no steroid use and no family history of osteoporosis does not need a bone density DEXA scan. Paying cash for one buys a reassuring T-score that changes nothing about what you do next. Two cheaper measures return more at that age. A grip strength reading costs nothing and tracks with fracture and mortality risk. Getting the dose and timing of vitamin D right supports the bone you already have.
Anyone who only wants a body fat percentage is also badly served by a hospital scan. A consumer body composition scan reports the same fat, lean and visceral numbers for a fraction of the price. Our page on visceral fat explains which of those readings is worth tracking. If a clinician has already flagged your bone health, read our guide to when to get a DEXA scan and the one on reading a T-score before you book.
What would change our answer is published precision data. If BodySpec, DexaFit or Fitnescity published in-vivo precision and least significant change values for each location, comparing scans across their sites would become defensible. The same-machine rule would stop costing readers money. None of them publishes that data today. Decide which of the two scans answers your question, then price the route you would use twice. For bone density, ask a clinician whether you meet one of Medicare's five qualifying conditions. For body composition, compare the DEXA scan cost published by the studio you can reach again in six months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a DEXA scan covered by insurance?
A bone density DEXA scan is covered when a qualifying diagnosis code appears on the claim, and a body composition DEXA scan is never covered by any insurer. The split is not about the machine. Both scans can run on the same densitometer in the same room. One is submitted as a diagnostic study with an ordering clinician behind it. The other is a retail purchase with no claim attached, so no insurer has anything to adjudicate.
Is a DEXA scan covered by Medicare?
Yes. Medicare Part B covers a bone mass measurement once every 24 months, and you pay nothing when your provider accepts assignment and you meet at least one qualifying condition. Those conditions are estrogen deficiency with osteoporosis risk, X-rays suggesting osteoporosis or vertebral fracture, prednisone or other steroid therapy, a primary hyperparathyroidism diagnosis, and monitoring of osteoporosis drug treatment.
When are DEXA scans covered by insurance more often than every two years?
Medicare allows a repeat inside 24 months when it is medically necessary. The Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, chapter 15, section 80.5, names monitoring of long-term glucocorticoid therapy as an example. It also covers establishing a baseline for a patient whose first test used a different method. The ordering clinician has to document the reason. A second scan requested by the patient without that documentation is billed to the patient.
What is the CPT code for a DEXA scan?
77080 is the axial study of the hips and spine, and it is the code that carries Medicare coverage for bone mass measurement. 77081 covers peripheral sites such as the forearm, wrist or heel. 77085 covers an axial study plus a vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) performed in the same session, and it should only be used when that imaging was performed. A consumer body composition scan is usually billed with none of these, because no claim is being submitted.
What ICD-10 diagnosis code is used for a DEXA scan?
The one that matches the reason your clinician ordered it. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publishes the covered diagnosis list for national coverage determination 150.3, and it includes age-related osteoporosis (M81.0) and the osteopenia codes under M85.8. Z13.820, the osteoporosis screening code, appears on a lot of DEXA claims. On its own it is a frequent denial, because a screening code does not document any of the five qualifying situations.
Does Quest Diagnostics do DEXA scans?
Not directly. Quest Health lists a Fitnescity DEXA body composition scan starting at $100. The page states plainly that Fitnescity provides the testing service, and that the results will not be shared with or available from Quest. You are buying a body composition scan through a partner network rather than a Quest lab test. If you want a bone density study for your medical record, that comes from a clinician order and an imaging facility instead.
Are Groupon DEXA scan deals worth it?
A Groupon body scan is a real scan at a real studio, and it is worth it only if you never intend to compare the result to anything. The first scan tells you very little on its own. Value shows up at the second and third scans, and those have to happen on the same machine to mean anything. Buying the cheapest first scan at a studio you would not choose again is how people end up with two numbers they cannot put on one line.
What is the out of pocket cost of a DEXA scan?
Zero if Medicare covers it and your provider accepts assignment, and otherwise whatever the facility charges you. Hospitals must publish their cash prices under the Hospital Price Transparency rule. Look up the exact local figure before you book. Consumer scanning companies publish a flat per-scan price on their own sites, which is why their numbers are easier to compare than a hospital estimate.
Where can I get a DEXA scan near me?
Bone density scans come from hospital radiology departments and outpatient imaging centers. You need a clinician order to get one. Body composition scans come from consumer scanning companies such as BodySpec and DexaFit, some university exercise science labs, and mobile trucks that rotate between gyms. Pick the body composition location you can realistically reach again in six months, because that is the one your next scan has to happen at.