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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of brain during surgery, without then with contrast

CPT 70559the billing code this page is about

Magnetic resonance imaging performed during an intracranial operation, first without contrast dye and then repeated after contrast is given.

Hospitals typically charge $2,052 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 341 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,977. Most fall between $303 and $4,441 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
341
States
37
Filings dated
Nov 2024 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 341 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$211$375$2,052$4,108$6,658

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 32× what the cheapest tenth charges ($211 vs $6,658).

How the prices are spread

$195 – $282: 50 hospitals$195$282 – $408: 35 hospitals$408 – $591: 11 hospitals$408$591 – $856: 11 hospitals$856 – $1,239: 27 hospitals$856$1,239 – $1,794: 9 hospitals$1,794 – $2,598: 38 hospitals$1,794$2,598 – $3,763: 49 hospitals$3,763 – $5,449: 34 hospitals$3,763$5,449 – $7,891: 45 hospitals$5,449median $2,052price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (309 of 341 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$195$28250
$282$40835
$408$59111
$591$85611
$856$1,23927
$1,239$1,7949
$1,794$2,59838
$2,598$3,76349
$3,763$5,44934
$5,449$7,89145

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$179
Median cash price$2,052
Cash as a multiple of Medicare11.5×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $2,052.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $6,161 across 12 hospitalsIL$6,161Wisconsin: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $6,642 across 21 hospitalsMI$6,642New York: median $211 across 23 hospitalsNY$211Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $387 across 11 hospitalsIA$387Indiana: median $322 across 12 hospitalsIN$322Ohio: median $2,609 across 41 hospitalsOH$2,609Pennsylvania: median $115 across 15 hospitalsPA$115New Jersey: median $197 across 14 hospitalsNJ$197Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $4,108 across 43 hospitalsCA$4,108Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWVVirginia: median $1,057 across 16 hospitalsVA$1,057Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceKSArkansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $3,676 across 12 hospitalsNC$3,676South Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $271 across 10 hospitalsOK$271Louisiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,813 across 24 hospitalsTX$2,813Florida: median $998 across 27 hospitalsFL$998
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,052. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Michigan MI21$6,642+224%$241 – $7,891
Illinois IL12$6,161+200%$3,092 – $6,161
California CA43$4,108+100%$2,188 – $6,658
North Carolina NC12$3,676+79%$3,676 – $3,676
Texas TX24$2,813+37%$2,813 – $10,395
Ohio OH41$2,609+27%$2,186 – $3,284
Virginia VA16$1,057−49%$1,041 – $3,404
Florida FL27$998−51%$375 – $2,227
Iowa IA11$387−81%$387 – $387
Indiana IN12$322−84%$284 – $436
Oklahoma OK10$271−87%$271 – $271
New York NY23$211−90%$211 – $791
New Jersey NJ14$197−90%$197 – $1,327
Pennsylvania PA15$115−94%$97 – $207
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $2,052.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care304$1,903$271 – $4,378
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access25$2,188$387 – $3,898
Ownership
For-profit24$1,673$322 – $2,813
Government36$2,057$211 – $3,676
Non-profit278$1,925$329 – $4,975
System affiliation
Part of a system311$2,188$345 – $4,975
Independent30$489$227 – $3,100

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,426
Median cash price$2,052
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

244 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,702 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,648; most fall between $645 and $4,975.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 244 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$375$915$2,702$4,108$6,658

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 18× what the cheapest tenth charges ($375 vs $6,658).

Of the 290 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 244 gave a usable cash price; 34 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 12 a list price only.

How complete is this

341 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (9%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 387 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted341
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here35
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded11
Hospitals that filed this code387

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 5, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Magnetic resonance imaging family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as MRI Brain Open Intracranial Px W/O & W/Contrast.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “MRI of brain during surgery, without then with contrast (CPT 70559) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-70559-mri-of-brain-during-surgery-without-then-with-contrast