> a diagnostic test like an MRI can often cost that much In non-emergency situations where you can do advance planning MRIs are cheap. It all started around 15

> a diagnostic test like an MRI can often cost that much In non-emergency situations where you can do advance planning MRIs are cheap. It all started around 15 years ago when some college professor set up a company a2zimaging I think it was called that sold idle MRI capacity to anyone. I believe he eventually shut it down but there's now several other companies willing to do a full MRI for anywhere from $320 to $1500. Google "cheap mri" and choose one. If you are brought into a hospital after a car accident and use their scanner without making arrangements, you can end up paying $10-$20k for the exact same scan.