How much does a brain MRI cost with insurance?

It depends on your plan type and hospital. In this metro, median negotiated rates in published hospital files range from the Medicare rate (baseline) to several times that amount for PPO plans. Your actual out-of-pocket cost depends on your deductible and coinsurance.

Why is the cash price sometimes lower than the insurance rate?

Hospitals set self-pay discounts independently of insurer contracts. In several published files the cash price is below the median PPO negotiated rate — if you have a high deductible, asking for the cash price can be worth it.

What is the Medicare rate shown here?

It is the national Medicare outpatient payment rate (CMS OPPS Addendum B) for the same procedure family, shown as a government baseline so you can see each hospital's multiple of it.

All procedures / Brain MRI / Chicago, IL

Brain MRI Cost in Chicago, IL (2026): Negotiated Rates by Insurance TypeNPI VERIFIED

Across 16 hospitals in the Chicago, IL area that publish federally required price files, the median negotiated PPO rate is $2,639, the median HMO rate is $2,383, the median self-pay (cash) price is $2,349 for a MRI of the brain (without contrast). The Medicare outpatient baseline for the same procedure family is $356.

Source: hospital machine-readable files (45 CFR §180), file dates 2025-08-01 to 2026-07-22 · Medicare baseline: CMS OPPS Addendum B · Data extracted 2026-10-06 · Page updated 2026-10-15

Median PPO

$2,639

negotiated rate

Median HMO

$2,383

negotiated rate

Median cash

$2,349

self-pay price

Medicare baseline

$356

CMS OPPS national

1 of 16 hospital files were more than 12 months old at extraction (flagged in the table). Hospitals must update these files yearly; older figures may not reflect current contracts.

These are contract reference rates, not your bill. A plan-type median is not a quote for your specific plan or network. Your out-of-pocket cost depends on your deductible, coinsurance and network status. Rates shown are facility charges only — physician/radiologist fees are billed separately.

Correction 2026-10-07. We removed Swedish Hospital (Chicago) from this table. The price file linked to it belonged to Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, WA — our identity check had matched the name but not the state. 45 hospitals nationwide were withdrawn for the same reason; the check now rejects a file whose declared address is in another state.

Hospital	PPO	HMO	Commercial	Medicare Adv.	ACA Exchange	Medicare	Cash	List (gross)
Roseland Community Hospital Chicago · CMS 1★ · file updated 2026-07-01	$4711.3× Medicare	$4711.3× Medicare	—	$3731.0× Medicare	$3731.0× Medicare	—	$510	$942
South Shore Hospital Chicago · file updated n/a	$1,1293.2× Medicare	$1,1043.1× Medicare	—	$4441.2× Medicare	$8862.5× Medicare	$4391.2× Medicare	$888	—
Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Elmhurst · CMS 3★ · file updated 2026-04-01	$1,4774.1× Medicare	—	$6021.7× Medicare	—	—	$3731.0× Medicare	—	—
Edward Hospital Naperville · CMS 3★ · file updated 2026-04-01	$1,4774.1× Medicare	—	$6021.7× Medicare	—	—	$3731.0× Medicare	—	—
Community First Medical Center Chicago · CMS 2★ · file updated 2026-04-01	$1,5554.4× Medicare	$1,4914.2× Medicare	$1,5014.2× Medicare	$3731.0× Medicare	$3731.0× Medicare	—	$2,280	$4,560
Advocate Christ Hospital & Medical Center Oak Lawn · CMS 3★ · file updated 2025-11-04	$2,4226.8× Medicare	$2,0165.7× Medicare	$1,6434.6× Medicare	$5491.5× Medicare	—	—	$1,915	$3,830
Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital Melrose Park · CMS 3★ · file updated n/a	$2,5587.2× Medicare	$2,1346.0× Medicare	—	$3871.1× Medicare	$4371.2× Medicare	—	$994	$5,236
Rush Oak Park Hospital Oak Park · CMS 4★ · file updated 2026-07-22	$2,6397.4× Medicare	$2,3836.7× Medicare	$1,5544.4× Medicare	$4,76713.4× Medicare	$5081.4× Medicare	—	$2,383	$4,767
Copley Memorial Hospital Aurora · CMS 4★ · file updated 2026-07-22	$2,8097.9× Medicare	$2,4716.9× Medicare	$1,5664.4× Medicare	$5,44215.3× Medicare	$9282.6× Medicare	—	$2,721	$5,442
Mercy Hospital Aurora Aurora · file updated n/a	$3,0268.5× Medicare	$3,0268.5× Medicare	—	$9082.5× Medicare	$1,8055.1× Medicare	$9082.5× Medicare	$2,314	$3,561
Essentia Health Northern Pines Medical Center Aurora · file updated n/a	$3,0428.5× Medicare	—	$3,0628.6× Medicare	$1,5314.3× Medicare	—	$1,5314.3× Medicare	$2,901	$3,926
Loyola University Medical Center Maywood · CMS 2★ · file updated n/a	$3,2919.2× Medicare	$2,4216.8× Medicare	—	$3831.1× Medicare	$4781.3× Medicare	—	$1,204	$5,236
Rush University Medical Center Chicago · CMS 5★ · file updated 2026-07-22	$3,60910.1× Medicare	$2,9168.2× Medicare	$1,6764.7× Medicare	$4,78113.4× Medicare	$5081.4× Medicare	—	$2,390	$4,781
University Of Illinois Hospital And Clinics Chicago · CMS 4★ · file updated 2025-08-01file >12 mo old	$5,43215.2× Medicare	$3,1198.8× Medicare	—	$3721.0× Medicare	—	$3721.0× Medicare	$5,432	$7,760
Ann & Robert H Lurie Childrens Hospital Of Chicago Chicago · file updated 2026-04-01	$5,87616.5× Medicare	$5,87616.5× Medicare	—	—	—	$1,1093.1× Medicare	$4,570	$6,529
Insight Hospital And Medical Center Chicago Chicago · CMS 1★ · file updated 2026-06-25	—	$2,2406.3× Medicare	—	—	—	$1,9205.4× Medicare	$2,560	$3,200

Each figure is the median of that hospital's published rates for the procedure's code family under that plan type. "×Medicare" compares to the CMS national outpatient rate. Blank cells mean the hospital's file discloses no dollar rate for that plan type.

Reuse: the price statistics on this page are licensed CC BY 4.0 — use them for anything, including commercial work, crediting "HospitalPriceGrid (ArtiLabs)". Site text, design and paid data extracts are not covered.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a brain MRI cost with insurance?: It depends on your plan type and hospital. In this metro, median negotiated rates in published hospital files range from the Medicare rate (baseline) to several times that amount for PPO plans. Your actual out-of-pocket cost depends on your deductible and coinsurance.
Why is the cash price sometimes lower than the insurance rate?: Hospitals set self-pay discounts independently of insurer contracts. In several published files the cash price is below the median PPO negotiated rate — if you have a high deductible, asking for the cash price can be worth it.
What is the Medicare rate shown here?: It is the national Medicare outpatient payment rate (CMS OPPS Addendum B) for the same procedure family, shown as a government baseline so you can see each hospital's multiple of it.

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