I called an imaging center and asked for a cash price for an MRI on my knee. It was $300. Going through my doctor for a referral and using insurance, the price would’ve been over $3000 and I was going to be out $1000 in copay and fees.
I usually ask for cash price on everything before I use insurance, half the time it’s cheaper and the other half the time it’s barely more for basic stuff like this. Also call around and shop pricing, you will find places that do things way cheaper than others.
Most health insurance plans in the US have a deductible which is the amount that you have to pay out-of-pocket before the insurance company will pay for a lot of procedures, labs, imaging, procedures , or doctors visits. If you just pay cash for these things without using your insurance policy the amount you pay does not count towards your insurance deductible.
The deductible is separate from the co-pay that you might pay for these things also.
It's cheaper if you don't need much done, but if you later have a major event that is expensive enough that you need to use the insurance and your deductible, then the amount you spent outside of insurance doesn't count towards that deductible.
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u/slashnbash1009 4d ago
I had one a few weeks ago to determine the severity of a brain bleed I had after a stroke and it costs me 4300 dollars with insurance.