Compare insurers (2026): what Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna pay for imaging in California

In-network rates side by side, with Original Medicare for reference.

Comparing what California insurers pay for imaging, 2026: among Blue Shield of California, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna, Cigna's median negotiated rate is the highest for 18 of 18 common imaging services and Blue Shield of California's the lowest for 14. These are medians of published rates across providers, not weighted by how often each provider is used, and ties are not counted. Before your deductible is met, a higher negotiated rate costs you more. Anthem Blue Cross lists one rate menu across nearly all contracts, so it is shown but not ranked. Rates from each insurer's published files, in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Los Angeles.

ServiceAnthem Blue CrossBlue Shield of CaliforniaAetnaUnitedHealthcareCignaOriginal Medicare
MRI
Lumbar spine MRI$438$318$475$372$487$218 to $257
Knee MRI$465$340$487$389$502$234 to $277
Shoulder MRI$469$339$482$387$497$235 to $278
Cervical spine MRI$437$319$473$372$487$217 to $256
Brain MRI$438$329$482$386$503$223 to $262
Brain MRI without and with contrast$671$541$594$617$739$362 to $427
CT scan
CT abdomen and pelvis with contrast$493$447$412$469$516$345 to $409
Head CT$220$165$220$185$233$121 to $142
Chest CT$285$233$272$251$312$151 to $177
Lung cancer screening CT$213$178$185$214$246$155 to $182
Ultrasound
Abdominal ultrasound$185$145$162$169$206$130 to $154
Pelvic ultrasound$157$121$147$150$183$120 to $143
First trimester ultrasound$181$154$158$167$203$133 to $156
Echocardiogram$489$341$355$370$392$225 to $265
Mammogram
Screening mammogram$203$172$167$191$217$145 to $172
Diagnostic mammogram$251$205$205$235$270$180 to $213
Other imaging
Chest X-ray$54$39$39$45$51$38 to $45
Bone density scan$87$57$73$68$81$45 to $54

Each insurer's figure is the middle of its area medians. Anthem Blue Cross figures reflect the menu of rates Anthem lists across its contracts, not contract-specific prices (why), so the typical rate leaves Anthem out. Kaiser Permanente is not listed: most Kaiser care is prepaid inside its own system, and it does not publish usable per-service rates.

What the difference means for you

Before your deductible is met, you usually pay the insurer's full negotiated rate, so a higher rate is money out of your pocket. After the deductible, your coinsurance is a share of that same rate. The insurer is set by your plan, but within one insurer, rates differ a lot between providers: a freestanding imaging center is usually paid far less than a hospital outpatient department for the same scan.

Get the price for your exact plan

An insurer has many contracts, and each plan uses one of them. The figures on this page cover all of an insurer's contracts in the area. The price for your plan depends on which one applies, and that is set by your employer or, if you buy your own coverage, by the plan you chose. The plan name is on your insurance card.

Your insurer's own cost tool gives a plan-specific estimate once you sign in:

AI assistants can look it up too. Arlo's free price transparency API and the Arlo MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT take a service, a ZIP code and a plan, and return nearby in-network providers with their negotiated rates.

Where these numbers come from

Rates come from the price transparency files Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna publish. We clean the files before summarizing them and only show an insurer when enough providers report a rate. Medicare figures are from the 2026 Physician Fee Schedule. More on how these pages are built.