Brain MRI with contrast cost in Oxnard, CA — inpatient
In Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA, 2 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the brain, with and without contrast dye as an inpatient: from $3,505.51 to $3,699.79, with a median of $3,602.65. The lowest listed price is at Dignity Health — $97.14 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $3,757.02 at 152 hospitals.
Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 70553, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 28, 2026 and Feb 28, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dignity Health lowest Camarillo, CA MR BRAIN WO AND W CON | $3,505.51 | $8,447.00 | $2,280.69–$6,757.60 | 58% | Feb 28, 2026 source file |
| Dignity Health Oxnard, CA · (805) 988-2500 MR BRAIN WO AND W CON | $3,699.79 | $8,447.00 | $2,280.69–$6,588.66 | 56% | Feb 28, 2026 source file |
Inpatient: lowest $3,505.51, median $3,602.65, highest $3,699.79 — a 1.1× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $3,699.79 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At 2 of 2 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
This brain MRI is done in two parts: first without contrast dye, then again after a gadolinium contrast dye is injected into a vein. The contrast helps show tumors, infection, inflammation and conditions such as multiple sclerosis more clearly.
What the price covers
The hospital price usually covers both sets of images. The radiologist's reading is often billed separately, and the contrast agent may appear as its own pharmacy charge.