How Much Does an MRI Lumbar Spine Cost in Missouri?
Mri lumbar spine w/o dye
$312Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI lumbar spine costs up to about $312 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Missouri averages $180, from $172 in Rest of Missouri to $185 in Metropolitan St. Louis.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
- ✓Five nearby hospitals by name, with CMS star ratings
- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
- ✓A word-for-word script for asking for a good-faith estimate
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- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
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- ✓Printable PDF download
Missouri Medicare physician rate (2026)
-6.1% vs nationalAverage of 3 localities. Office range $172.28–$184.99.
What the whole procedure costs
The office rate above is what an imaging center, lab or office is paid for the whole test. In a hospital, the facility bills its own fee and the physician bills only the reading. These are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Medicare may pay the facility separately for this code or package it into another service on the same day, so treat the facility share as an upper bound. For a test like this the physician in a hospital bills only the reading (the professional component); outside a hospital one global fee covers the whole test, shown in the office rate above. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Your ZIP in Missouri
Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What MRI lumbar spine costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Missouri moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
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What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again. In Missouri the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $113.15.
National vs Missouri
Where Missouri ranks for this CPT
CPT 72148 by Missouri locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan st. louis | $184.99 |
| metropolitan kansas city | $183.09 |
| rest of missouri | $172.28 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.862 to 0.952 in Missouri. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
MRI Lumbar Spine and how Missouri is priced
Missouri is a three-locality state: metropolitan St. Louis and metropolitan Kansas City are each priced separately, and everywhere else falls into a rest-of-state locality with lower geographic adjustments. Both metro localities approve higher amounts than outstate Missouri, and the Kansas City locality applies only to the Missouri side of that metro, since the Kansas side prices under Kansas's statewide locality. Springfield, Columbia, and the rural counties all share rest-of-state factors. The metro-versus-outstate gap is the main pricing story here.
St. Louis and Kansas City hold the state's academic medical centers and most of its specialty depth, drawing patients from far beyond Missouri's borders, including southern Illinois and eastern Kansas. Outstate Missouri is served by regional hubs in Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, with the Ozarks and Bootheel among the harder places to reach specialty care. Rural hospital viability has been a persistent concern across the state.
This procedure: A lumbar spine MRI without contrast images the lower back, the region responsible for most back pain and sciatica, showing discs, nerve roots, and the spinal canal. It is the definitive test before considering injections or surgery for a suspected herniated disc or spinal stenosis. You lie on your back in the scanner for 20 to 40 minutes; it is painless but the flat position can be uncomfortable if lying down aggravates your pain.
What Is MRI Lumbar Spine?
A lumbar spine MRI without contrast images the lower back, the region responsible for most back pain and sciatica, showing discs, nerve roots, and the spinal canal. It is the definitive test before considering injections or surgery for a suspected herniated disc or spinal stenosis. You lie on your back in the scanner for 20 to 40 minutes; it is painless but the flat position can be uncomfortable if lying down aggravates your pain.
What Affects the Cost
- –This is one of the most shopped scans in America, and prices between hospitals and independent centers commonly differ several-fold.
- –Insurer rules pushing six weeks of conservative care first mean therapy visit costs often precede the scan.
- –Findings frequently lead to epidural injections or surgical consultations, so the MRI is often the gateway to a much larger episode of spending.
- –Contrast is only added for specific concerns like prior surgery or infection, at a higher-code price.
- –Open or wide-bore scanners for larger or claustrophobic patients can carry different pricing at specialty centers.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Do I meet my insurer's criteria yet, or will this be denied for lack of conservative treatment first?
- 2.What is the cash or negotiated price at nearby freestanding imaging centers?
- 3.Is my scan authorized at the specific location I am booked at?
- 4.Given my history, does the radiologist need contrast, and what would that add?
- 5.If the MRI shows a disc problem, what are the typical next-step costs I should anticipate?
Other featured procedures in Missouri
MRI Lumbar Spine in other states
MRI Lumbar Spine in Missouri: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI lumbar spine costs up to about $312 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Missouri averages $180, from $172 in Rest of Missouri to $185 in Metropolitan St. Louis. Enter a ZIP for the exact Missouri locality.
Yes. CMS splits Missouri into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $12.71 from the lowest to highest locality. Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $36 for the office physician line or $13 for the hospital physician line in Missouri. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
It depends on where the test is done. At an independent imaging center, lab or office, $180.12 is Medicare's full rate in Missouri, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $66.97) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $312. Missouri ranks #15 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (6% below the national office rate of $191.72).