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How much does an MRI cost without insurance?

A US hospital can charge a different cash price for the same MRI scan. The machine-readable file each hospital must publish holds its prices; here is how to read yours before you book.

Updated . Country: United States

There is no single answer to "how much does an MRI cost?" In the United States, each hospital sets its own charges for the same scan, and then discounts them differently for cash patients, for each insurer and for each plan. A head MRI and a knee MRI are different procedures with different prices. This page explains where the numbers come from and how to get a real figure for your scan at the hospital you plan to use.

The federal price transparency rule

Since January 2021, federal rules (45 CFR 180) require most hospitals to publish their standard charges in a machine-readable file, often called an MRF, and in a consumer-friendly list. The file must include:

  • the cash discount price a self-pay patient is asked to pay,
  • the minimum and maximum negotiated rates for each insurer,
  • the de-identified minimum and maximum negotiated rates,
  • and the gross charge, which is the list price.

The charges are listed per item and service, keyed by the CPT code of each procedure. The rule is why a directory like this one can exist: the prices are public, published by the hospital itself, and machine-readable. The CMS hospital price transparency tracker keeps a running record of where each hospital's file lives and whether it opens.

Why the price varies

A hospital's price covers more than the machine and the technician. It pays for the room, the staffing, the radiologist's reading and the hospital's overhead, and each hospital prices those differently. On top of that, cash prices are set to capture patients who are not billing an insurer, so a cash price can be lower than the discounted rate your insurance would negotiate, or higher — there is no rule of thumb.

The same scan also has different prices depending on contrast. The CPT code for a brain MRI without contrast is 70551; with contrast it is 70552, and without and with contrast it is 70553. Each of those is a separate row in the hospital's file.

How to get a real price before you book

  1. Find your hospital on this directory or on the CMS tracker.
  2. Look up the CPT code for your scan: 70551 for a head MRI, 72148 for a lumbar spine MRI, 73221 for a shoulder MRI, 73721 for a knee MRI, all without contrast.
  3. Open the hospital's machine-readable file and search for the code. Note the cash discount price.
  4. Call the hospital's price estimate line (every hospital must have one) and ask for a written cash quote for that code. Ask whether it includes the radiologist's fee.
  5. Get the total in writing before you schedule.

What this directory does

This site lists every hospital on the CMS hospital roster with its address and phone. As we parse each hospital's own machine-readable file, we publish the MRI cash prices from it — per scan type, tied to the CPT code. We never invent a number. Until a hospital's file is parsed, its page honestly reads "price undisclosed — machine-readable files coming", which is the truth until we have read the file ourselves.

Sources

Questions

Why does the same MRI cost different amounts at different hospitals?

There is no national price for a scan. Each hospital sets its own charges, then discounts them differently for cash patients, for each insurer, and for each plan. The price you actually pay depends on the hospital's own published file and on how you pay.

What is a machine-readable file (MRF)?

Under the federal price transparency rule, every hospital must publish its standard charges in a file that a computer can read. That file lists the cash discount price, the minimum and maximum negotiated rates for each insurer, and the list price for each item and service, including each CPT code.

Does the price include the radiologist's reading?

Not always. A hospital bill often arrives in two parts: the hospital's facility fee and the radiologist's separate professional fee for reading the scan. Ask for a total that includes both before you schedule.

Can I ask the hospital for a discount?

Yes. Many hospitals publish a cash discount price that is lower than the list price, and some run assistance programs. Ask for the cash price in writing and compare it with what the hospital's own file says.

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