How Much Does an MRI Knee Cost in Rhode Island?
Mri jnt of lwr extre w/o dye
$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 Rhode Island averages $210.
- ✓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
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
Rhode Island Medicare physician rate (2026)
+2.8% vs nationalSingle statewide locality.
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 Rhode Island
Enter a ZIP code for your part of Rhode Island, whether Providence and Pawtucket, Warwick and Cranston, Newport, or the South County shore towns.
What MRI knee costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Rhode Island 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 02801.
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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 Rhode Island the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $146.20.
National vs Rhode Island
Where Rhode Island ranks for this CPT
MRI Knee and how Rhode Island is priced
Rhode Island, the smallest state, is unsurprisingly a single payment locality, with geographic adjustments above the national average in line with southern New England's cost structure. Providence and the shoreline towns publish identical Medicare-approved amounts, and no point in the state is more than an hour from its main hospitals. The compact geography makes locality subdivision pointless. Pricing here reads as a slightly discounted echo of neighboring Boston's market.
Providence dominates Rhode Island care, with the state's teaching hospitals and academic affiliation concentrated there, and consolidation has left a small number of systems running most beds. Many Rhode Islanders, particularly in the northeast corner, use Boston hospitals for complex or specialized procedures, accepting metro Boston pricing when they do. South County residents have fewer local options and often travel to Providence.
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 Rhode Island
MRI Knee in other states
MRI Knee in Rhode Island: 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 Rhode Island averages $210. Rhode Island is a single Medicare locality, so the physician rate is the same statewide.
Not on the physician fee schedule. Rhode Island uses one locality, so the Medicare physician rate is the same from one end of the state to the other. What still changes is site of service (office vs hospital) and any facility fee the hospital bills on its own claim.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $42 for the office physician line or $13 for the hospital physician line in Rhode Island. 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, $210.12 is Medicare's full rate in Rhode Island, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $63.92) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $307. Rhode Island ranks #39 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (3% above the national office rate of $204.41).