How Much Does an MRI Knee Cost in New York?
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$307Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI knee costs up to about $307 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 New York averages $226, from $196 in Rest of New York to $240 in Nyc Suburbs/Long Island.
- ✓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
- ✓A private link you can reopen and share
- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
New York Medicare physician rate (2026)
+10.4% vs nationalAverage of 5 localities. Office range $195.65–$239.54.
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 New York
New York's multiple localities make a ZIP-level check essential: compare Manhattan, Queens and the outer boroughs, Long Island, the Hudson Valley near Poughkeepsie, and upstate cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany.
What MRI knee costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in New York 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.
For example 12007.
One-off payment, no account and no subscription. You get a private link and an email. No medical records and no insurance card, ever.
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 New York the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $158.15.
National vs New York
Where New York ranks for this CPT
CPT 73721 by New York locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| nyc suburbs/long island | $239.54 |
| queens | $237.20 |
| manhattan | $234.48 |
| poughkpsie/n nyc suburbs | $221.97 |
| rest of new york | $195.65 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.950 to 1.189 in New York. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
MRI Knee and how New York is priced
New York has one of the most complex locality maps in the country, with around five payment areas: Manhattan is its own locality, Queens is separately priced, the NYC suburbs and Long Island form another high-cost locality, the Poughkeepsie area has its own, and the rest of the state, including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany, shares a distinctly lower-priced upstate locality. The spread between Manhattan and upstate adjustments is among the widest within any state. A knee MRI or office visit is approved at meaningfully different amounts in Manhattan, Mineola, and Rochester. Upstate New York prices closer to the Midwest than to the five boroughs.
New York City is a global medical capital with world-famous academic medical centers competing within blocks of each other, while upstate cities each center on their own regional academic hubs. Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley support dense suburban hospital markets of their own. The upstate-downstate divide runs through everything in New York health care, including what providers charge and what patients can access locally.
This procedure: A knee MRI without contrast (the lower extremity joint MRI code) shows the menisci, ligaments including the ACL, cartilage, and bone marrow, none of which appear on X-ray. It is the definitive test for suspected meniscus tears and ligament injuries. You lie on your back with the knee in a small coil for 20 to 40 minutes of painless but noisy scanning, and results typically reach your doctor within a couple of days.
What Is MRI Knee?
A knee MRI without contrast (the lower extremity joint MRI code) shows the menisci, ligaments including the ACL, cartilage, and bone marrow, none of which appear on X-ray. It is the definitive test for suspected meniscus tears and ligament injuries. You lie on your back with the knee in a small coil for 20 to 40 minutes of painless but noisy scanning, and results typically reach your doctor within a couple of days.
What Affects the Cost
- –The hospital versus freestanding center price gap for knee MRI is large and well documented; this is a scan worth shopping.
- –Insurer authorization rules often require an X-ray and a trial of conservative care first, adding upstream visits.
- –A confirmed meniscus or ligament tear frequently leads to arthroscopy, so the MRI often begins a bigger spending episode.
- –In patients over about 50, MRI often shows incidental degenerative findings that can prompt further, sometimes unnecessary, care.
- –The radiologist's interpretation fee is a distinct component of the price.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Has my insurer approved this scan, and does my chart show the X-ray and conservative care they require?
- 2.What is the all-in price at the freestanding centers near me?
- 3.Given my age, could therapy first make this MRI unnecessary?
- 4.Is the authorization tied to a specific facility?
- 5.If the MRI shows a tear, what are the typical next steps and their costs?
Other featured procedures in New York
MRI Knee in other states
MRI Knee in New York: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI knee costs up to about $307 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 New York averages $226, from $196 in Rest of New York to $240 in Nyc Suburbs/Long Island. Enter a ZIP for the exact New York locality.
Yes. CMS splits New York into 5 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $43.89 from the lowest to highest locality. New York's multiple localities make a ZIP-level check essential: compare Manhattan, Queens and the outer boroughs, Long Island, the Hudson Valley near Poughkeepsie, and upstate cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $45 for the office physician line or $14 for the hospital physician line in New York. 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, $225.77 is Medicare's full rate in New York, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $67.62) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $307. New York ranks #46 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (10% above the national office rate of $204.41).