Orange County → MRI of the lower back
MRI of the lower back in Orange County
Across 12 of 20 hospitals, the self-pay price runs from $305 to $7,633 — 25.0× the price for the same billing code.
For scale: Medicare pays hospitals about $244 for this as an outpatient service — the 2026 national rate, before local wage adjustment.
| Hospital | Self-pay price | List price | Insurers pay | Publishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Grove Hospital & Medical Center gardengrovehospital.com · Garden Grove | $305 | $6,212 | $181–$473 | B |
| Huntington Beach Hospital hbhospital.org · Huntington Beach | $305 | $6,399 | $181–$458 | B |
| La Palma Intercommunity Hospital lapalmaintercommunityhospital.com · La Palma | $305 | $6,399 | $181–$867 | B |
| West Anaheim Medical Center westanaheimmedctr.com · Anaheim | $305 | $6,399 | $181–$473 | B |
| Uci Health - Los Alamitos ucihealth.org · Los Alamitos | $1,532 | $3,830 | $307–$798 | C |
| Uci Health - Fountain Valley ucihealth.org · Fountain Valley | $1,532 | $3,830 | $307–$798 | C |
| Providence Mission Hospital providence.org · Mission Viejo | $1,778–$2,634 varies | $5,488 | $261–$5,519 | C |
| Providence St. Joseph Hospital providence.org · Orange | $2,202–$2,481 varies | $3,544 | — | C |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Orange County - Anaheim healthy.kaiserpermanente.org · Anaheim | $2,496 | $4,800 | $220–$655 | B |
| Providence St. Jude Medical Center providence.org · Fullerton | $2,603–$5,754 varies | $11,987 | $261–$5,211 | C |
| Children's Hospital of Orange County choc.org · Orange | $4,519–$5,848 varies | $5,848 | $186–$5,848 | D |
| Orange County Global Medical Center orangecountyglobalmedicalcenter.com · Santa Ana | $4,690 | $4,690 | $223–$4,690 | C |
| Coastal Communities Hospital southcoastglobalmedicalcenter.com · Santa Ana | $4,690 | $4,690 | $223–$4,690 | C |
| Children's Hospital at Mission missionhealth.org · Mission Viejo | $5,327–$5,913 varies | $5,327 | $518–$5,322 | D |
| Ahmc Anaheim Regional Medical Center ahmchealth.com · Anaheim | $6,056 | $6,056 | $92–$6,056 | C |
| Memorialcare Saddleback Medical Center memorialcare.org · Laguna Hills | $7,633 | $7,633 | $199–$6,018 | C |
| Memorialcare Orange Coast Medical Center memorialcare.org · Fountain Valley | $7,633 | $7,633 | $276–$4,891 | C |
| Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian hoag.org · Newport Beach | not published | — | $307–$2,089 | D |
| Hoag Orthopedic Institute hoag.org · Irvine | not published | — | $307–$2,089 | D |
| Anaheim Community Hospital, Llc anaheimcommunityhospital.com · Anaheim | not published | $1,442 | — | F |
What these three numbers mean
Self-pay price is what the hospital says it charges someone paying directly. It is the number to ask for by name. List price is the undiscounted charge almost nobody pays. Insurers pay is the range of procedure-specific negotiated rates in the file — useful mainly to see whether the self-pay price is above or below what insurers get.
Some hospitals attach one flat rate to nearly their whole price list. Those are excluded here, because a number identical for a colonoscopy and a blood test says nothing about either. More on that →
Billing code CPT 72148 —
MRI lumbar spine without contrast. Every price on this page is read from the hospital's
own published file; open a hospital to see which file and when it was read.