How much is an MRI without insurance?

MRI cost without insurance, by body part

For a single body part without contrast, an MRI costs about the same whether it is your knee, shoulder, back or brain; the big jump comes from where it is done. Medicare's fee schedule gives these scans similar relative values, so self-pay prices built on it land close together.^[1] In a hospital, Medicare pays the same facility rate (APC 5523) for every non-contrast MRI in the table, which is why the hospital column barely changes from row to row.^[2]

Prices in your state can sit above or below these national figures; choose your area in the estimator. The code next to each scan is the one your doctor's order will usually carry, and it is the number to read out when you call for a price.

Why a hospital MRI costs 3.7–4.1 times as much

A hospital MRI costs more because two bills replace one: the hospital charges a facility fee for the machine and staff, and the radiologist bills a separate fee for reading the images. An independent imaging center bills a single global fee that already includes the reading. Here is how Medicare's own payments split for a knee MRI (73721):

So Medicare already pays the hospital about 64% more for the identical scan. Cash prices stretch that gap further, because hospitals set their prices much higher above Medicare than imaging centers do; our estimate therefore uses a larger self-pay multiplier for hospital MRI and CT than for centers (the figures and studies are on the methodology page). The research points the same way:

• Employer-plan prices for imaging in hospital outpatient departments ran 2 to 4 times the price of the same imaging in physician offices in 2022, and hospital MRI prices averaged 307% of Medicare, according to the Health Care Cost Institute.^[3]
• In hospitals' own price-transparency files (July 2021), the median posted cash price was $1,625 for a lower-back MRI and $1,534 for a knee MRI.^[4]
• Hospital cash prices for radiology were roughly equal to what insurers negotiate (a median ratio of 1.04 in 2022 files), so paying cash at a hospital does not by itself earn you a center-level price.^[5]

Knee MRI cost without insurance

A knee MRI without contrast typically costs $400 at an independent imaging center ($240–$600) and $1,550 in a hospital outpatient department ($920–$2,350). Each knee is a separate scan, so imaging both roughly doubles the bill. A shoulder MRI is priced almost the same as a knee.

Much of what people pay for this scan is decided before they ever call: in a study of privately insured patients getting lower-limb MRIs, patients on average bypassed six lower-priced providers between home and the place they were scanned, and the referring doctor's choice mattered far more than the patient's own costs.^[6] You can ask your doctor to send the order to a center you have priced yourself.

Does an MRI with contrast cost more?

Yes: a scan done without and then with contrast is billed under a different, longer code, and at a center it runs about 62% more than the plain scan. Contrast is a dye injected into a vein partway through so that some tissues show up more clearly; the "with and without" version means two sets of images.

Whether you need contrast is a medical question for the clinician ordering the scan. The practical point is to check the code on the order before you collect quotes: a price for the non-contrast code will not apply if the order says "with and without."

What affects the price of an MRI

Ways to pay less for an MRI

1. Ask whether the center bills as a hospital. Some imaging centers are owned by a hospital and bill a facility fee. Ask the scheduler: "Is this billed as hospital outpatient, and will I get a separate radiologist bill?"
2. Price the exact code at two or three places. Give the code from your order and ask for the all-in self-pay price, reading included. Hospitals must publish a discounted cash price for shoppable services in a public file, so you can check theirs too.^[7]
3. Get it in writing. If you schedule at least three business days ahead, a provider must give an uninsured patient a good faith estimate on request or at scheduling.^[8] Here is what a good faith estimate must include.
4. Anchor any haggling on Medicare. Look up what Medicare pays for your code in your area with the Medicare fee schedule lookup, then use the scripts in how to negotiate medical bills.
5. If cost is the barrier, start at a health center. Federally funded health centers charge for visits on a sliding fee by income and can coordinate the referral; see sliding scale clinics.

For some problems a CT is ordered instead of an MRI, and it usually costs less: a head CT is about $210 at an imaging center versus $390 for a brain MRI. Which test fits is your doctor's call; compare prices on our CT scan cost page, and for simpler imaging see X-ray prices.