Lower back MRI cost in Lexington, KY
In Lexington-Fayette, KY, 10 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the lower back, no contrast dye: from $793.31 to $3,235.67, with a median of $1,907.07. The lowest listed price is at Saint Joseph East — $1,113.76 less than the median here. Across Kentucky, the median is $1,725.03 at 76 hospitals.
- The median here, $1,907.07, is about the same as the US median of $1,903.81.
- That is 7.8× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($243.77).
- Lexington, KY ranks 2nd of 2 metro areas in Kentucky by median, cheapest first.
- Every hospital here lists a cash price below its full list price.
Cash prices at 10 facilities across 6 cities for code 72148, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Nov 5, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 28, 2026 and Sep 30, 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 Lexington-Fayette, KY.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Joseph East lowest Lexington, KY · (859) 967-5000 HC MRIG LIMITED LUMBAR File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $793.31 | $1,975.00 | $237.49–$1,797.25 | 60% |
| Saint Joseph East Lexington, KY · (859) 967-5000 HC MR SPINE LUMBAR File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $829.46 | $2,065.00 | $237.49–$1,879.15 | 60% |
| Continuing Care Hospital Lexington, KY HC MRIG LIMITED LUMBAR File of Sep 30, 2026 · source file | $835.37 | $1,884.00 | $1,714.44–$1,827.48 | 56% |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Jessamine Nicholasville, KY · (859) 313-1000 HC MRIG LIMITED LUMBAR File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $845.58 | $1,679.00 | $237.49–$1,593.00 | 50% |
| Continuing Care Hospital Lexington, KY HC MR SPINE LUMBAR File of Sep 30, 2026 · source file | $869.96 | $1,962.00 | $1,785.42–$1,903.14 | 56% |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Jessamine Nicholasville, KY · (859) 313-1000 HC MR SPINE LUMBAR File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $883.85 | $1,755.00 | $237.49–$1,597.05 | 50% |
| Saint Joseph Hospital Lexington, KY · (859) 313-1000 HC MRIG LIMITED LUMBAR File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $930.39 | $1,975.00 | $237.49–$1,797.25 | 53% |
| Saint Joseph Hospital Lexington, KY · (859) 313-1000 HC MR SPINE LUMBAR File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $1,021.31 | $2,168.00 | $237.49–$1,972.88 | 53% |
| University of Kentucky Hospital Lexington, KY · (859) 257-2278 Hc Mri, Lumbar Spine - Mri Lumbar Spine Wo Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $1,814.34 | $4,535.86 | — | 60% |
| Clark Regional Medical Center Winchester, KY · (859) 737-8559 Magnetic resonance (eg, proton) imaging, spinal canal and contents, lumbar; without contrast material File of Jul 10, 2026 · source file | $1,999.80 | $4,999.49 | $1,075.73 | 60% |
| Bluegrass Community Hospital Versailles, KY · (859) 879-2300 Magnetic resonance (eg, proton) imaging, spinal canal and contents, lumbar; without contrast material File of Jul 10, 2026 · source file | $2,225.28 | $5,563.21 | $665.00 | 60% |
| Bourbon Community Hospital Paris, KY · (859) 987-3600 Magnetic resonance (eg, proton) imaging, spinal canal and contents, lumbar; without contrast material File of Jul 11, 2026 · source file | $2,360.13 | $5,900.32 | $790.00 | 60% |
| Georgetown Community Hospital Georgetown, KY · (502) 868-1100 Magnetic resonance (eg, proton) imaging, spinal canal and contents, lumbar; without contrast material File of Jul 10, 2026 · source file | $3,086.46 | $7,716.15 | $543.00 | 60% |
| Baptist Health Lexington Lexington, KY · (859) 260-6100 MRI scan of lower spinal canal without contrast File of Sep 28, 2026 · source file | $3,235.67 | $4,314.23 | $388.28–$8,770.83 | 25% |
Outpatient: lowest $793.31, median $1,907.07, highest $3,235.67 — a 4.1× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 5 facilities here, median $845.58. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At 5 of 9 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at 1 it is 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 lower back MRI is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Lower back MRI explained.