[gotbeans]

26k for an mri /w contrast last week because insurance decided it's not necessary despite the doctor asking for it.

Now the doctor has to put an appeal to explain medical necessity, I'm at his mercy.

[arealaccount]

Is insurance the villain on this one of the hospital charging insurance 26k for an MRI?

[alistairSH]

Possibly all of the above.

An MRI shouldn't cost $26k, even with contrast, and at a hospital.

If this was non-emergency, it should have been pre-cleared with insurance per their policy.

[triceratops]

$26k for a contrast MRI is outrageous. An MRI machine costs $1m at the high end. If you figure the procedure takes 2h and the machine runs 22h/day - which they tend to do - they're making over a quarter of the cost of the machine daily. It doesn't cost anywhere near that to run it; even if we're talking maintenance, salaries, and utilities.