There is no universal U.S. price for an MRI. In a 2025 analysis of hospital-posted rates for one noncontrast brain MRI code, the median negotiated rate was $405, the middle 80% ran from $100 to $2,851, and the median cash price was $1,436. Those figures are benchmarks—not a quote, patient bill, or range for every MRI.
What the current benchmark actually measures
The 2025 PriceTransparency study analyzed machine-readable hospital data for CPT 70551, an MRI of the brain without contrast, across 1,337 hospitals in 47 states. It reported a $405 median negotiated rate, a $100-to-$2,851 10th-to-90th percentile range, a $1,436 median discounted cash price, and a $2,832 median gross charge. The data illustrate enormous variation, but they do not establish a national fee schedule.
| Published 2025 measure | Amount | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Median negotiated rate | $405 | Your insurer’s contract, deductible, coinsurance, or final share |
| Middle 80% of negotiated rates | $100–$2,851 | A guaranteed minimum or maximum at a specific hospital |
| Median discounted cash price | $1,436 | The cash quote at a freestanding center or for another body part |
| Median hospital gross charge | $2,832 | The amount usually paid after discounts or insurance adjustments |
The figures were reviewed September 2, 2026. They apply to one code and hospital files, not all MRI exams. A knee MRI without contrast, abdominal MRI with and without contrast, multiple body areas, breast MRI, cardiac MRI, or study requiring anesthesia is a different service.
Why two MRI quotes can be far apart
- Exam and CPT code: body part, with contrast, without contrast, or both changes the code and resources.
- Facility: hospital outpatient departments and independent imaging centers can have different overhead and facility fees.
- Professional interpretation: the radiologist’s reading may be included or billed separately. Confirm both technical and professional charges.
- Contrast and supplies: an IV, contrast material, laboratory testing, and monitoring can add services.
- Sedation or anesthesia: medication, clinician fees, monitoring, recovery, and facility requirements can materially change the total.
- Insurance: network status, negotiated rate, prior authorization, deductible remaining, copay, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximum determine the patient’s share.
- Cash policy: a self-pay or prompt-pay price can differ from the gross charge and an insurer-negotiated rate.
RadiologyInfo, a patient resource from the American College of Radiology and Radiological Society of North America, emphasizes that the price set by the provider may have little relationship to what an insured patient owes. It also notes that hospital-owned services can issue separate facility and professional bills, while freestanding centers may issue a combined bill.
A current Original Medicare example
Medicare’s Procedure Price Lookup displayed a September 2026 national average for lumbar-spine MRI without contrast, CPT 72148, of $314 total and $62 patient responsibility in an ambulatory surgical center. It displayed an average $86 patient responsibility in a hospital outpatient department. The page says additional costs may apply. These figures are specific to Original Medicare and that code; they are not estimates for commercial insurance, Medicare Advantage, uninsured patients, or another MRI.
More generally, Medicare says that after the Part B deductible, a beneficiary usually pays 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for a covered diagnostic test in a doctor’s office or independent diagnostic testing facility. A hospital outpatient copayment may be higher. Coverage requires an order for diagnosing or treating a medical problem, and other plan or supplemental coverage can change what the patient owes.
How to get a usable estimate
- Get the exact order. Ask for the body area, whether contrast is required, and the CPT code or codes.
- Confirm clinical and insurance requirements. Check network status and prior authorization with the insurer; an authorization is not a price guarantee.
- Request an all-in estimate. Ask whether it includes facility, scanner, contrast, IV, radiologist interpretation, sedation, and any laboratory work.
- Compare equivalent settings. Ask the ordering clinician whether an accredited freestanding center is clinically appropriate before shopping only on price.
- Check the insurer’s estimator and hospital display. CMS requires hospitals to publish discounted cash prices and payer-specific information for shoppable services, including imaging.
- Save the written response. Compare it with the explanation of benefits and bills from every entity.
If you are uninsured or paying cash
Tell the facility that you will not use insurance and request a written good-faith estimate. CMS says providers generally must supply one when uninsured or self-pay patients schedule eligible care at least three business days ahead or request an estimate. If a provider’s final charge is at least $400 above its estimate, a federal patient-provider dispute process may apply, subject to timing and eligibility rules.
Do not delay urgent or time-sensitive imaging solely to shop. Ask the ordering clinician what timing is medically safe. For more related reading, browse Health & Human Body, see our published look at ultrasound careers and pay data, and review Sources and Review.
Sources
- PriceTransparency: 2025 hospital brain-MRI rate analysis
- RadiologyInfo: medical imaging costs, billing, and insurance variables
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: hospital price transparency for consumers
- Medicare Procedure Price Lookup: lumbar MRI without contrast
- Medicare: diagnostic non-laboratory test coverage and costs
- CMS: good-faith estimates and self-pay medical-bill rights
