US hospital price transparency
US hospitals publish multiple prices for the same procedure. The two most useful starting points are the discounted cash price for self-pay patients and the payer-specific negotiated charge for a named insurer or plan. Neither is automatically your final bill.
If you are self-pay, compare the discounted cash price and ask whether it is a complete package. If you are insured, compare the payer-specific negotiated charge for your exact insurer and plan, then ask your insurer or hospital for your estimated patient responsibility. A lower negotiated rate does not help if the hospital is out of network or if separate clinician bills are excluded.
Calculator
Enter the quote you were given and your own plan figures. Every field starts empty: the tool uses only what you type, or a sourced figure you choose to copy in.
Enter a cash quote and your plan’s allowed amount to see the comparison.
The insurance share is the deductible still to pay (up to the allowed amount), plus your coinsurance on the rest, plus any copay, capped at the out-of-pocket limit you entered. It does not check network status, prior authorization, separately billed physician, radiology, anesthesia or pathology fees, or whether a cash payment counts toward your deductible.
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A written quote or an explanation of benefits you have received helps other readers. Useful submissions include body part, contrast status, radiologist read fee, provider name, date quoted and whether the amount was a cash price, an allowed amount, your share on an explanation of benefits, or a billed charge.
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Worked through
The MRI page works the comparison through for one common, scheduled scan: each billing code, every hospital file read, and what Medicare pays.
Open the MRI cost pageRead methodologyHospital figures are facility charges from each hospital’s own standard-charge file, one per hospital, with a median only at 4 or more hospitals. Medicare amounts are national, before geographic adjustment.
| Code | Hospital cash price | Hospital negotiated rates | What Medicare pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70551MRI brain without contrast | Median $1,66970 hospitals; lowest $268, highest $10,455 | Median $46883 hospitals; lowest $216, highest $3,783 | $195.40 |
| 70552MRI brain with contrast | Median $2,04981 hospitals; lowest $395, highest $12,186 | Median $71192 hospitals; lowest $331, highest $4,663 | $268.88 |
| 70553MRI brain without and with contrast | Median $2,54779 hospitals; lowest $395, highest $20,478 | Median $69190 hospitals; lowest $331, highest $5,663 | $316.97 |
| 72141MRI cervical spine without contrast | Median $1,90978 hospitals; lowest $268, highest $10,858 | Median $50389 hospitals; lowest $216, highest $3,721 | $190.72 |
| 72148MRI lumbar spine without contrast | Median $1,79677 hospitals; lowest $268, highest $10,888 | Median $50488 hospitals; lowest $216, highest $3,717 | $191.72 |
| 72146MRI thoracic spine without contrast | Median $1,84379 hospitals; lowest $237, highest $10,888 | Median $50490 hospitals; lowest $216, highest $3,770 | $190.39 |
| 73221MRI upper extremity joint without contrast | Median $1,80364 hospitals; lowest $268, highest $10,099 | Median $43682 hospitals; lowest $216, highest $3,583 | $205.08 |
| 73721MRI lower extremity joint without contrast | Median $1,57158 hospitals; lowest $268, highest $10,578 | Median $43676 hospitals; lowest $216, highest $3,633 | $204.41 |
| 74181MRI abdomen without contrast | Median $1,53575 hospitals; lowest $268, highest $9,909 | Median $47786 hospitals; lowest $216, highest $3,948 | $193.73 |
Every hospital and its file: MRI cost page (files read October 26, 2026 to November 6, 2026). Medicare: CMS Physician Fee Schedule, relative value file RVU26D, read October 26, 2026.
Providers and facilities must give uninsured and self-pay patients a Good Faith Estimate of expected charges when a service is scheduled or on request.
“This section sets forth requirements for health care providers and health care facilities related to the issuance of good faith estimates of expected charges for uninsured (or self-pay) individuals (or their authorized representatives), upon request or upon scheduling an item or service.”
Ask for the estimate in writing when you book, and ask whether it covers the separate physician, radiology, anesthesia and pathology bills.
eCFR: 45 CFR 149.610, In force (45 CFR 149.610, text as of 2026-10-01), read October 26, 2026.
Using this data?
Main sources
Methodology: This page explains the standard-charge fields hospitals publish. The MRI figures are read from each hospital's own file, one per hospital and billing code; check them against the hospital's latest file or estimator before acting.
TreatCompare publishes healthcare, care-cost and treatment-pricing research for consumers, journalists, policymakers and commercial teams.
The hospital price for a patient paying cash or cash equivalent.
Use it for: The starting point for a self-pay patient comparing hospitals.
Watch out: May not include physician, anesthesia, pathology, imaging, implants, or follow-up bills.
The amount a hospital has negotiated with a specific insurer or plan.
Use it for: The starting point for an insured patient comparing in-network hospitals for the same code.
Watch out: It is not your final out-of-pocket cost; deductible, coinsurance, copay, and network status still matter.
The lowest and highest negotiated charges across third-party payers.
Use it for: Shows the spread between insurers when the exact plan rate is missing.
Watch out: The payer names are hidden, so these values cannot tell you what your own plan will pay.
The chargemaster list price before discounts or insurer contracts.
Use it for: A reference field and a quality check when reading files.
Watch out: Usually the least useful value for estimating what a patient or insurer will actually pay.
These are procedure categories where comparing cash and insured prices is useful. Codes are examples only; hospitals may publish different codes, modifiers or packages.
| Procedure | Code signal | Setting | Comparison notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRI scans | Example CPT: 72148 | Outpatient imaging | Facility price, radiology professional fee, contrast if used, body part, and whether the imaging center is hospital-owned. |
| CT scans | Example CPT: 74177 | Outpatient or emergency imaging | With-vs-without contrast, radiology professional fee, emergency setting markups, and hospital outpatient department fees. |
| Ultrasounds | Example CPT: 76830 | Outpatient imaging | Body area, whether Doppler is included, radiology read fee, pregnancy vs non-pregnancy coding, and facility fee. |
| Colonoscopies | Example CPT: 45378 | Outpatient endoscopy | Facility fee, physician fee, anesthesia, pathology, polyp removal, and preventive-care coding. |
| Upper endoscopy | Example CPT: 43235 | Outpatient endoscopy | Facility fee, physician fee, anesthesia, biopsy/pathology, dilation or therapeutic add-ons, and bundled-vs-itemized quotes. |
| Cataract surgery with standard lens | Example CPT: 66984 | Outpatient surgery | Facility fee, surgeon fee, anesthesia, lens type, eye laterality, and upgrade lens charges. |
| Blood tests | Example CPT: 85025 | Hospital lab or outpatient lab | Hospital lab price vs independent lab, panel components, draw fee, pathology interpretation, and insurer lab network. |
| Childbirth | Example DRG/CPT mix | Inpatient maternity | Vaginal vs C-section, newborn charges, epidural/anesthesia, physician bill, length of stay, neonatal care, and complications. |
| ER visits | Example CPT: 99284 | Emergency department | Facility level, physician bill, imaging, labs, drugs, observation status, and whether surprise-billing protections apply. |
| Outpatient surgery | Examples: 29881, 47562 | Hospital outpatient department or ASC | Facility fee, surgeon fee, anesthesia, implants/supplies, pathology, pre-op imaging, and post-op physical therapy. |
| IVF add-ons | Clinic/lab-specific billing | Fertility clinic or hospital-affiliated lab | ICSI, PGT-A, assisted hatching, embryo freezing, storage, anesthesia, and whether add-ons are billed outside the base cycle. |
| Physical therapy | Examples: 97110, 97140 | Hospital outpatient or clinic | Per-visit facility fee, therapist professional charge, number of units, plan visit limits, and hospital-owned clinic status. |
| Cancer diagnostics | Varies by pathway | Imaging, lab, pathology, endoscopy, or biopsy | Diagnostic imaging, biopsy facility fee, pathology, genetic or molecular tests, specialist professional bills, and staging add-ons. |
For self-pay patients, the cash price is usually the relevant hospital column, but it still needs a package check. Ask whether it includes facility, professional, anesthesia, pathology, implant, drug and follow-up charges.
For insured patients, the negotiated charge is the better starting point. Then translate it through your plan: deductible remaining, copay, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximum, prior authorization and network status.
If the hospital cash price is lower than your plan's negotiated rate, ask whether paying cash is allowed and what you give up by doing so. Cash payments may not count toward your deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.
CMS requires hospitals to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file and a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services. CMS also defines discounted cash price, payer-specific negotiated charge, de-identified minimum and maximum negotiated charges, gross charge and standard charge in federal regulation.
Independent imaging centers and surgical centers are not in the hospital files. If you have a written quote from one, TreatCompare can label it as a submitted example after source checks; it is never mixed into the hospital figures.
Sometimes, but not always. A hospital discounted cash price can be lower than an insurer negotiated rate for some procedures, while the negotiated rate may be lower for others. Patients also need to check whether paying cash counts toward their deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.
A payer-specific negotiated charge is the charge a hospital has negotiated with a third-party payer for an item or service. It can help insured patients compare hospitals, but it is not the same as the patient responsibility shown on an estimate or explanation of benefits.
Compare the hospital facility price, physician or surgeon bill, anesthesia, pathology, imaging, implants, drugs, follow-up care, network status, deductible, coinsurance, and whether the quote is bundled or itemized.
CMS hospital price transparency rules require hospitals operating in the United States to publish a machine-readable file with standard charges and a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services.
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