Riverside → MRI of the lower back
MRI of the lower back in Riverside
Across 7 of 9 hospitals, the self-pay price runs from $2,496 to $13,281 — 5.3× 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eisenhower Medical Center eisenhowerhealth.org · Rancho Mirage | $76–$152 varies | $5,554 | $267–$8,924 | C |
| San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital sgmh.org · Banning | $835–$864 varies | $4,175 | $290–$916 | D |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Riverside healthy.kaiserpermanente.org · Riverside | $2,496 | $4,800 | $220–$655 | B |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital-moreno Valley healthy.kaiserpermanente.org · Moreno Valley | $2,496 | $4,800 | $220–$655 | B |
| Hemet Global Medical Center hemetglobalmedicalcenter.com · Hemet | $4,316 | $4,316 | $175–$4,316 | C |
| Menifee Global Medical Center menifeeglobalmedicalcenter.com · Sun City | $4,316 | $4,316 | $175–$4,316 | C |
| Riverside University Health System-medical Center ruhealth.org · Moreno Valley | $10,243 | $10,243 | $126–$10,243 | B |
| Riverside Community Hospital riversidecommunityhospital.com · Riverside | $13,281 | $13,281 | $181–$11,953 | C |
| Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center riversidecommunityhospital.com · Riverside | $13,281 | $13,281 | $181–$11,953 | C |
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.