Lumbar spine MRI cost in Los Angeles (2026): what Aetna, Anthem, Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna pay

MRI of the lower back (lumbar spine) without contrast, CPT 72148. Also called MRI lower back, lumbar MRI, L-spine MRI without contrast. In-network rates by insurer.

Lumbar spine MRI cost in Los Angeles, 2026: in the Los Angeles area, insurers pay a typical $402 for a lumbar spine MRI at doctors' offices and imaging centers. By insurer, the typical office rate runs from $279 (Blue Shield of California) to $468 (Aetna). Original Medicare's rate is $218 here. Rates from five insurers' published files, for providers within 20 miles of downtown Los Angeles.

What each insurer pays

InsurerOffices and imaging centers
median, middle half		Billing entities
Anthem Blue Cross$390
$277 to $578		633
Blue Shield of California$279
$279 to $366		242
Aetna$468
$288 to $620		343
UnitedHealthcare$373
$265 to $488		267
Cigna$430
$268 to $633		302
Original Medicare$218-

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 lumbar spine MRI in Los Angeles

Across 633 billing entities in the Los Angeles area, the middle of Anthem's rate menu for a lumbar spine MRI at offices and imaging centers is $390, and the middle half of those values runs from $277 to $578. That office median is 1.8 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 lumbar spine MRI in Los Angeles

Blue Shield of California pays a median of $279 for a lumbar spine MRI at offices and imaging centers in the Los Angeles area. At least a quarter of its 242 billing entities here list exactly that amount, which looks like one standard rate rather than a locally negotiated one; the middle half runs from $279 to $366. 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 lumbar spine MRI in Los Angeles

Aetna pays a median of $468 for a lumbar spine MRI at offices and imaging centers in the Los Angeles area, with the middle half of 343 billing entities between $288 and $620. That office median is 2.1 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use Aetna's Find Care cost estimates.

UnitedHealthcare negotiated rate for a lumbar spine MRI in Los Angeles

UnitedHealthcare pays a median of $373 for a lumbar spine MRI at offices and imaging centers in the Los Angeles area, with the middle half of 267 billing entities between $265 and $488. That office median is 1.7 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use UnitedHealthcare's price transparency tool.

Cigna negotiated rate for a lumbar spine MRI in Los Angeles

Cigna pays a median of $430 for a lumbar spine MRI at offices and imaging centers in the Los Angeles area, with the middle half of 302 billing entities between $268 and $633. That office median is 2 times what Original Medicare pays. For your plan's exact price, use the myCigna cost estimator (sign in).

About a lumbar spine MRI

An MRI of the lower back without contrast dye. It is the usual first MRI for back pain that has not improved, sciatica, or suspected disc problems. Billing code: CPT 72148.

What the price covers

  • Rates here are for the whole service billed as one charge: the scan and the radiologist's reading.
  • With contrast (CPT 72149) or without and then with contrast (72158) are different codes with different prices.

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 $402 rate, that is $402. Once the deductible is met, coinsurance applies: at 20% coinsurance you would pay $80 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 $218 for a lumbar spine MRI in Los Angeles. 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 Los Angeles. 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.