Does Medicare cover it?

Does Medicare cover an MRI?

Yes. Part B covers an MRI when your doctor or another provider orders it to find or treat a medical problem. Where the scan is done changes your bill more than anything else, so the estimator prices it both at an imaging center and in a hospital outpatient department.

What this service costs you

$283 in 2026; 0 if you already met it

Doctor accepts assignment

You pay

$187

Medicare-approved amount$187
Part B deductible used$187
Deductible left after this$96
100%
You
Medicare

Part B: you pay the yearly deductible ($283 in 2026), then 20% of the approved amount.

Same service at national rates: $192

How this is calculated

Medicare Part B covers diagnostic tests such as MRI scans when a doctor or other health care provider orders them to find or treat a medical problem. In a doctor's office or an independent diagnostic testing facility, you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after the $283 Part B deductible, and the facility must be accredited for advanced imaging, or Medicare will not pay. At national 2026 rates an MRI of the lower back without contrast is approved $192 at such a center, so your share is $38 once the deductible is met; a brain MRI comes to $39. If the scan is your first Part B bill of the year, the deductible takes the whole amount and the lower back MRI costs you $192. In a hospital outpatient department the bill splits in two, the radiologist's reading and the hospital's fee, and you pay the hospital a copayment that can be more than 20% but in most cases not more than the Part A deductible. The same lower back MRI there is approved $312 and leaves you $62. If an imaging center is not accredited and Medicare refuses the claim for that reason, the provider cannot bill you for the test.

Imaging center or hospital?

Difference for you

$23

Imaging center: you pay$39
Hospital outpatient: you pay$62

National rates, deductible met.

Your area and coverage →

Costs computed by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the costs are calculated

When Medicare pays for the scan

Medicare groups MRI with the other diagnostic tests that are not lab work, such as CT scans, X-rays, EKGs and PET scans. Part B covers them when your provider orders them to find or treat a medical problem, in other words to rule an illness in or out. An MRI requested without such an order, as a general check, does not meet that condition.

Prices for three common scans

The table gives the national 2026 approved amounts for scans without contrast. At an office or imaging center, a single global fee covers the images and the radiologist's reading. In a hospital outpatient department, the reading is billed by the radiologist and the hospital charges its own rate for the scan.

Physician fee schedule (global fee, or professional component in a hospital) and OPPS Addendum B of October 2026; Part B deductible already met, provider accepting assignment.
MRI, national ratesImaging center: approvedYou payHospital outpatient: approvedYou pay
Brain, without contrast$195$39$312$62
Lower back, without contrast$192$38$312$62
Knee, without contrast$204$41$307$61

The hospital share includes a copayment set for the imaging service. Medicare notes that this copayment may be more than 20% of the approved amount, and that in most cases it cannot exceed the Part A hospital deductible, $1,736 in 2026. For an MRI the copayment stays far below that ceiling, but it is still larger than what you pay at an imaging center.

The deductible and the timing of the scan

When the MRI is your first Part B service of the year, the $283 deductible is paid first. A lower back MRI at an imaging center is approved for less than the deductible, so you pay its full $192. In a hospital the deductible is used up and the copayment applies on the rest: $289 for the same scan, against $62 later in the year.

Accreditation outside the hospital

For advanced imaging, meaning CT, MRI, nuclear medicine and PET, done outside a hospital, whether by a provider, a medical practice, a clinic or a free-standing radiology center, Medicare pays only if the provider is accredited. Check before the appointment. If Medicare refuses to pay for your test because the provider is not accredited, the provider cannot bill you for it.

Your 20% of a Part B bill

You pay

$100

Approved amount$500
Deductible$0
20% coinsurance$100
Limiting charge above it$0
Price a service in your area →

Local prices and other coverage

The office fee follows the local cost index of the physician fee schedule. A lower back MRI at an imaging center leaves you $44 in Manhattan and $35 in Alabama, against $38 at national rates, with the deductible met. Choose your state and price area in the estimator for your own figure.

Medigap Plan G pays the 20% and the hospital copayment once the deductible is met, which leaves nothing for a scan later in the year. A Medicare Advantage plan sets its own imaging copay; enter your plan's figures in the estimator. Hospitals now publish their standard charges, including those negotiated with Advantage plans, on a public website, which can help when you compare places.

Questions people on Medicare ask

Why is an MRI cheaper at an imaging center than at a hospital?

Because the hospital adds a facility fee. At an office or an independent imaging facility, one global fee covers the scan and the reading, and you pay 20% of it. In a hospital outpatient department, the radiologist bills for the reading and the hospital bills its own outpatient rate, with a copayment for you on top of the 20% of the reading. The mini tool shows the gap for three common scans.

What happens if the imaging center is not accredited?

For advanced imaging such as MRI, CT, nuclear medicine or PET done outside a hospital, Medicare pays only if the provider is accredited. If Medicare refuses to pay because the provider is not accredited, the provider cannot bill you for the test. Asking about accreditation before the appointment avoids both a delay and a dispute.

Can an imaging center charge more than the Medicare-approved amount for an MRI?

Only if it does not accept assignment. A center that accepts it takes the approved amount as full payment. One that does not may charge up to 15% above the amount allowed for non-participating providers: for a brain MRI at national rates, your bill would rise from $39 to $65 with the deductible met.

Does Medigap cover the hospital copayment for an MRI?

Yes. The hospital outpatient copayment is Part B cost sharing, which Medigap pays like the 20% coinsurance. With Plan G or Plan N and the deductible met, a knee MRI in a hospital outpatient department costs you $0. Plan K pays half of it and Plan L three quarters. The Part B deductible stays yours with these plans.

Price another service

Knee replacement

Inpatient or outpatient, the Part A deductible, the surgeon’s 20% and the rehab after.

Chiropractic care

Only the hands-on spinal adjustment for a subluxation is covered; X-rays and massage are not.

Physical therapy

Evaluation and sessions at 20%, no yearly cap, and what the KX threshold really means.

What Part B covers

Doctors, outpatient care, preventive services and equipment: the 2026 premium, deductible and your 20%.

Part B deductible

The 2026 deductible, how your first bills of the year use it, and which services skip it.

Cost estimator

What one service costs you, with your area and coverage.

CMS files and Medicare.gov pages behind this page

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Independent publisher of service-by-service Medicare cost estimates built from CMS fee schedules

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Medicare amounts for 2026, CMS files of October 2026, last checked on