Lower back MRI with contrast cost in Chester, MT
In Chester, MT, 1 hospital lists a cash price for MRI of the lower back, without and then with contrast dye: from $2,142.08 to $2,142.08, with a median of $2,142.08. Across Montana, the median is $2,656.39 at 21 hospitals.
Cash prices at 1 facility for code 72158, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Apr 1, 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 Chester, MT.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan Health - Chester lowest Chester, MT · (406) 759-5181 MR Exam | $2,142.08 | $3,295.50 | — | 35% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Logan Health - Chester lowest Chester, MT · (406) 759-5181 MR L Spine w/wo Contrast Limited | $2,142.08 | $3,295.50 | — | 35% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $2,142.08, median $2,142.08, highest $2,142.08.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 1 facility here, median $2,142.08. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
What it is
This MRI of the lumbar spine takes one set of pictures without contrast dye and a second set after the dye is injected into a vein. The dye helps tell scar tissue from a new disc problem after back surgery and can show infection, inflammation or tumors.
What the price covers
The hospital price usually covers both sets of images; the contrast agent may appear as a separate line on some bills. The radiologist's reading is often billed separately.
2 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 72158 ($2,978.40). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Logan Health - Chester Chester, MTMR L Spine w/wo Contrast - Report | $168.35 | file |
| Logan Health - Chester Chester, MTMR L Spine w/wo Contrast Limited - Report | $168.35 | file |