Brain MRI cost in San Francisco (2026): what Aetna, Anthem, Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna pay

MRI of the brain without contrast, CPT 70551. Also called head MRI without contrast, MRI brain, brain scan MRI. In-network rates by insurer.

Brain MRI cost in San Francisco, 2026: in the San Francisco area, insurers pay a typical $382 for a brain MRI at doctors' offices and imaging centers. By insurer, the typical office rate runs from $333 (Blue Shield of California) to $475 (Aetna). Original Medicare's rate is $257 here. Rates from five insurers' published files, for providers within 20 miles of downtown San Francisco.

What each insurer pays

InsurerOffices and imaging centers
median, middle half		Billing entities
Anthem Blue Cross$450
$284 to $645		209
Blue Shield of California$333
$289 to $445		59
Aetna$475
$316 to $632		123
UnitedHealthcare$345
$249 to $474		90
Cigna$418
$285 to $634		90
Original Medicare$257-

Anthem Blue Cross figures reflect the menu of rates Anthem lists across its contracts, not contract-specific prices (why). Kaiser Permanente is not listed. Most Kaiser care is prepaid inside its own system, and it does not publish usable per-service rates.

Anthem Blue Cross negotiated rate for a brain MRI in San Francisco

Across 209 billing entities in the San Francisco area, the middle of Anthem's rate menu for a brain MRI at offices and imaging centers is $450, and the middle half of those values runs from $284 to $645. That office median is 1.7 times what Original Medicare pays. Anthem lists the same menu of rates under nearly every contract, so these figures show the middle of that menu, not the rate a specific provider is paid. For your plan's exact price, use Anthem's Find Care and cost estimates.

Blue Shield of California negotiated rate for a brain MRI in San Francisco

Blue Shield of California pays a median of $333 for a brain MRI at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 59 billing entities between $289 and $445. That office median is 1.3 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use Blue Shield's Treatment Cost Estimator.

Aetna negotiated rate for a brain MRI in San Francisco

Aetna pays a median of $475 for a brain MRI at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 123 billing entities between $316 and $632. That office median is 1.8 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use Aetna's Find Care cost estimates.

UnitedHealthcare negotiated rate for a brain MRI in San Francisco

UnitedHealthcare pays a median of $345 for a brain MRI at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 90 billing entities between $249 and $474. That office median is 1.3 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use UnitedHealthcare's price transparency tool.

Cigna negotiated rate for a brain MRI in San Francisco

Cigna pays a median of $418 for a brain MRI at offices and imaging centers in the San Francisco area, with the middle half of 90 billing entities between $285 and $634. That office median is 1.6 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use the myCigna cost estimator (sign in).

About a brain MRI

An MRI of the brain without contrast dye. It is commonly ordered for headaches with concerning features, dizziness, memory changes, or symptoms that persist after a head injury. Billing code: CPT 70551.

What the price covers

  • Rates here are for the whole service billed as one charge: the scan and the radiologist's reading.
  • A brain MRI without and then with contrast (CPT 70553) is a different code with a higher price.

What you would actually pay

The negotiated rate is the total the provider is paid. Your share depends on your plan. If you have not met your deductible, you usually pay the whole negotiated rate: at a $382 rate, that is $382. Once the deductible is met, coinsurance applies: at 20% coinsurance you would pay $76 and the insurer the rest. Plans with a flat copay for this service charge the copay instead.

Going out of network is different. The provider has no agreed rate with your insurer, so they can usually bill their full listed price. Federal and California law limit that in emergencies and for some out-of-network clinicians at in-network hospitals.

Paying without insurance

The rates on this page are what insurers pay in network, not cash prices. If you are paying yourself, they are still a useful benchmark: ask the provider for its self-pay price before you book and compare it with these rates and with Original Medicare's $257 for a brain MRI in San Francisco. Many freestanding imaging centers post cash prices for scans. Hospitals must publish a discounted cash price under federal price transparency rules, and if you are uninsured or paying yourself, the No Surprises Act entitles you to a written good faith estimate before scheduled care.

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 the plan name 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, for providers within 20 miles of downtown San Francisco. 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.