MRI, brain (with and without contrast)
Facility: Saint John's Health Center
Billing Code: 70553 (CPT)
This hospital's typical commercial price is $814 compared to the $589 fair price benchmark.
4-Star CMS clinical quality rating paired with 1.38× fair market pricing.
Highest price of the 9 CA hospitals we have prices for — worth calling around.
Black dot = this hospital, among the 9 CA hospitals with a price for this procedure. Full list below.
Note: The cash price looks unusually high next to the insurance price — it may be the full list price, not a real cash discount. Call to confirm the self-pay rate.
A fair price for a MRI, brain (with and without contrast) is about $589 (about 1.7× the $356 Medicare rate). Saint John's Health Center charges insurers about $814, or about $2,967 in cash — above the fair price. Located in Santa Monica, CA.
This price is above the fair BaseRate — you may be able to pay less
Ask the hospital for the cash / self-pay price, check whether you qualify for financial assistance, or negotiate the bill down toward the fair price of about $589. Many patients pay well below the first number they’re quoted — the checklists below walk you through it.
What each insurance company pays
Which insurers have negotiated a price with this hospital for this procedure — and which haven’t.
4 of 6 major insurers have a published price at this hospital
Crossed out = this hospital hasn’t published a negotiated price for that insurer for this procedure. It doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t accepted — ask your insurer.
| Insurance company | Price range | vs. Medicare |
|---|---|---|
| UnitedHealthcaremajor | $611 | 171% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shieldmajor | $470 - $5,754 | 132% |
| Aetnamajor | $449 - $814 | 126% |
| Humanamajor | $458 | 128% |
| Health Net | $830 - $960 | 233% |
| + 2 smaller / regional plans | $494 - $583 |
Self-Pay How to get the cash price
Insurance Before you use insurance
Estimate your out-of-pocket cost
A rough estimate of what you’d pay with insurance (deductible + coinsurance) versus paying the cash price yourself.
Other Procedures at Saint John's Health Center
Compare: MRI, brain (with and without contrast) at other CA hospitals
- Saint Agnes Medical Center · Fresno $90
- Mayers Memorial Hospital · Fall River Mills $110
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hosp & Trauma Ctr · San Francisco $117
- Natividad Medical Center · Salinas $132
- Adventist Health Vallejo · Vallejo $142
- Adventist Health Mendocino Coast · Fort Bragg $156
- Adventist Health Howard Memorial · Willits $160
- Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA · Los Angeles $195
Insurance negotiated median for the same procedure, sorted lowest first.
Audit a Bill or Quote at Saint John's Health Center (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $3,078
At 274% FPL (201%–400% FPL tier), 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5) caps FAP-eligible bills at Amounts Generally Billed (36.3% of gross = $3,078).
Self-Pay Cash Rate ($2,967) Beats Your Bill
Saint John's Health Center's published 45 CFR § 180 self-pay cash rate is $2,967 (vs. $814 commercial insurer median). Ask billing to reclassify the visit to prompt-pay self-pay if it beats your deductible.
Negotiate Toward $589 Fair BaseRate ($356 Medicare)
Your bill ($8,478) is $7,889 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($589) and 23.8× the $356 Medicare rate.
Clinical Quality, Patient Experience & Infection Benchmarks
Source: CMS Hospital Care Compare. Clinical quality metrics summarize historical facility-wide cohorts and are not medical advice for individual care decisions.
How to Pay Less Nearby: Freestanding Centers, Insurer Leverage & Outpatient Savings
Verify the Raw Data: Official Hospital MRF, CMS Medicare.gov & Federal Filings
Safe-Harbor Data Corrections: Parsed directly from public 45 CFR § 180 hospital filings, CMS Care Compare, and CMS HCRIS cost reports. Hospital compliance officers may submit updated MRF URLs or rate tables for verification.