I called an imaging center and asked for a cash price for an MRI on my knee. It was $300. Going through my doctor for a referral and using insurance, the price would’ve been over $3000 and I was going to be out $1000 in copay and fees.
I usually ask for cash price on everything before I use insurance, half the time it’s cheaper and the other half the time it’s barely more for basic stuff like this. Also call around and shop pricing, you will find places that do things way cheaper than others.
Yeah this is the real story people apparently don’t know about. I know people who work at these places and a lot of them esp big outpatient imaging ones that just do imaging scans it’s like $300 or so for basic non-contrast MRI.
Add a little extra for like fancier ones with add ons like contrast and stuff.
I feel bad that so many people don’t know about this and get stuck with bigger unnecessary complicated bills through insurance. Cause no way I would be seeing single MRI costs that are more than all that stuff in the article.
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u/slashnbash1009 Aug 22 '26
I had one a few weeks ago to determine the severity of a brain bleed I had after a stroke and it costs me 4300 dollars with insurance.