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How an MRI bill is built

Why is my MRI so expensive in the US?

An MRI bill is more than the scan. It can include a hospital facility charge, a separately billed radiologist’s read, a rate negotiated between the hospital and your insurer, and a billing code that changes with body part and contrast. Which of those you pay yourself depends on your plan.

Peter Langdon · TreatCompare editor — healthcare price research

Important information for US visitors

This page is general consumer information about how US MRI bills are built. It is not insurance advice, billing advice, legal advice, tax advice, or medical advice. Check any quoted price and your share with your provider and your insurer before booking care.

What drives an MRI bill

  1. The facility charge. A hospital outpatient department charges for the room, equipment and staff. Hospital files list it as a separate billing class from the physician’s charge.
  2. The separately billed read. The scan (technical component) and the radiologist’s interpretation (professional component) can be billed separately, sometimes by a different organization with a different network status.
  3. The negotiated rate. Each hospital negotiates a rate with each insurer for each code. Hospitals now publish these rates in their standard-charge files; this site shows the spread without naming any insurer.
  4. Contrast and the billing code. A scan with contrast, and a scan of a different body part, is a different code with a different price. The ordering clinician sets the code.
  5. Your plan. Your share depends on your remaining deductible, coinsurance, copay, network status and out-of-pocket limit. Until the deductible is met, you pay the plan’s allowed amount yourself.
  6. Not knowing the price at the point of order. The price is rarely discussed when the scan is ordered. Ask for the code and a written quote first; if you are uninsured or paying yourself, ask for a Good Faith Estimate.

The two parts of an MRI, as Medicare pays them

Medicare’s fee schedule splits an MRI into the scan and the read. These are its national amounts, not a price charged to anyone without Medicare.

CodeScan (technical)Read (professional)Both, office or imaging center
70551MRI brain without contrast$127.59$67.80$195.40
70553MRI brain without and with contrast$211.76$105.21$316.97

CMS Physician Fee Schedule, relative value file RVU26D, released August 26, 2026, read October 26, 2026. National amounts before geographic adjustment. What Medicare pays a hospital outpatient department for the scan is not shown: CMS publishes it only behind the AMA CPT licence.

Across 70 hospital files, the discounted cash price for a brain MRI without contrast (code 70551) ran from $268 to $10,455, with a median of $1,669. In the same files, the median cash price was $1,669 for code 70551 and $2,547 for code 70553 (without and with contrast). Every hospital and its file is listed on the MRI cost page.

Work out your own share

The amount billed is not your share. Enter a cash quote, your plan’s allowed amount and your deductible position to see the arithmetic.

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Cash quote or insurance share for an MRI?

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.

Arithmetic, not a bill
  • Median hospital cash price, code 72148 (US): $1,795.66 (77 hospitals, facility charge only). every hospital and its file, read October 26, 2026.
  • Median hospital negotiated rate, code 72148 (US): $504.07 (88 hospitals, facility charge only; your plan's own rate may differ). every hospital and its file, read October 26, 2026.

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.

Open shareable result

Help the dataset

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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Before booking, ask

Provider

  • What billing code will be used for this MRI?
  • Is the cash quote complete, or are professional or facility fees separate?
  • Is contrast, anesthesia, pathology or follow-up included if relevant?
  • Can you provide the quote in writing before booking?
  • Is contrast included, and is the radiologist interpretation included?
  • Is the scan billed by a hospital outpatient department or an independent imaging center?

Insurer

  • Is the provider in-network for my exact plan?
  • Will this billing code require prior authorization?
  • What patient responsibility do you estimate after deductible, copay and coinsurance?
  • If I pay cash, can I submit a claim afterwards, and would it count toward my deductible?

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Across 70 hospital files, the discounted cash price for a brain MRI without contrast (code 70551) ran from $268 to $10,455, with a median of $1,669.

In the same files, the median cash price was $1,669 for code 70551 and $2,547 for code 70553 (without and with contrast).

Medicare splits a brain MRI (code 70551) into the scan, $127.59, and the radiologist's read, $67.80, national amounts in the RVU26D fee schedule.

Sources: hospital standard-charge files, each linked on the TreatCompare MRI cost page; CMS Physician Fee Schedule, relative value file RVU26D, read October 26, 2026.

Healthcare data note

Sources, review and limits

Updated November 6, 2026

Main sources

  • Hospital standard-charge files (112 hospitals, each file linked below)
  • CMS Physician Fee Schedule, relative value file RVU26D
  • CMS ambulatory surgical center rates, Addendum AA (October 2026)
  • CMS: 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles
  • Medicare.gov: Medicare costs
  • HealthCare.gov glossary: out-of-pocket maximum/limit
  • eCFR: 45 CFR 149.610

Methodology: Hospital figures are read from each hospital's standard-charge file, one per hospital and billing code, facility charge only, with a median only at four or more hospitals. The technical and professional split is Medicare's national fee schedule. No independent imaging center's price has been read.

Ask about methodologyMethodology, source summaries and structured extracts: TreatCompare data team

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Why is the same MRI priced so differently in the US?
Each hospital sets its own cash price and negotiates its own rate with each insurer, may list a facility charge and a separate radiologist charge, and prices each billing code separately. Across 70 hospital files, the discounted cash price for a brain MRI without contrast (code 70551) ran from $268 to $10,455, with a median of $1,669.
What is a facility charge on an MRI bill?
The hospital outpatient department’s charge for the room, equipment and staff, separate from the radiologist’s interpretation. Hospital files list facility and professional charges as separate billing classes.
Why is the radiologist billed separately?
An MRI has two parts: the scan (the technical component) and the radiologist’s reading and report (the professional component). They can be billed separately, sometimes by different organizations with different network status. Medicare’s own fee schedule pays them as two components.
Does contrast change the MRI price?
Yes: a scan with contrast is a different billing code. In the same files, the median cash price was $1,669 for code 70551 and $2,547 for code 70553 (without and with contrast). Confirm the exact code before agreeing to a price.
Why does my insurance allowed amount look so high?
The allowed amount is what your plan has agreed to pay the provider for that code. It is not the hospital’s gross charge and not your share, which depends on your deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket limit. Until the deductible is met, you pay the allowed amount yourself.
Can I find the MRI price before booking?
Hospitals must publish a standard-charge file with their cash prices and negotiated rates (45 CFR 180.50). This site reads those files and links each one. If you are uninsured or paying yourself, you can also ask for a Good Faith Estimate.

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