Your Wallet Feels the Difference — Before You Even Get Your Scan
Where you get your imaging done can mean hundreds — or thousands — of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
Not all imaging is priced equally. Hospitals and outpatient radiology centers often provide the same exact scan — but the bill you receive can look dramatically different. Here's why.
Higher Fee Schedule
- Facility fees added on top of the imaging fee
- Negotiated rates with insurers are significantly higher
- Higher cost-sharing applied to your deductible & coinsurance
- Same scan — much larger bill
Lower Fee Schedule
- No hospital facility fee
- Lower contracted rates with insurers
- Less applied to your deductible & coinsurance
- Same scan — significantly lower bill
Why Does This Happen?
Hospitals carry a higher fee schedule.
They negotiate reimbursement rates with insurers that can be 2–4× higher than independent centers for the identical procedure.
Facility fees are unique to hospitals.
A "facility fee" is charged simply for being on hospital property — even for a routine outpatient MRI. Independent centers don't charge this.
Your cost-sharing is based on the billed amount.
If your insurance applies 20% coinsurance, 20% of a $3,000 hospital rate hits you much harder than 20% of a $900 outpatient rate.
Deductible dollars go further elsewhere.
Every dollar you spend at a higher-rate hospital eats through your deductible faster — leaving more exposure for future care.
Before your next MRI, CT, or X-ray — ask your doctor about Affinity Radiology.
Same quality imaging, at a fraction of the hospital cost.
Same scan. Same quality. Fraction of the cost.