CPT code 70551: Brain MRI, without contrast2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Utah

In Utah, Medicare pays $186.42 for 70551 in the office.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 70551 nationwide

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 70551 covers

This study images the cerebral hemispheres, posterior fossa, and brainstem using noncontrast sequences such as T1, T2, FLAIR, diffusion-weighted, and susceptibility imaging. It is ordered for suspected acute stroke, new seizures, cognitive decline, red-flag headache, and follow-up of known structural lesions. Focused noncontrast examinations of the internal auditory canals or pituitary are also reported within the brain MRI series. Technologists acquire the images in hospital radiology departments, emergency settings, and freestanding imaging centers, and a radiologist or neuroradiologist interprets them.

Report 70551 when no contrast is administered for the brain MRI. The report should state the indication, sequences obtained, findings, and impression. Medicare recognizes a professional component (modifier 26) for interpretation and a technical component (modifier TC) for the scanner, staff, and supplies. Billing without a modifier represents the global service when one entity furnishes both components. When eligible diagnostic imaging services are performed for the same patient on the same date, the multiple procedure reduction applies to professional and technical components, with each component ranked separately.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

How Utah compares for 70551

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 70551 runs from $173.48 in Arkansas to $262.77 in San Benito County, CA. Utah pays $186.42. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

70551 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

See 70551 in every payment locality

How the 70551 rate is calculated

Each of 70551’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 70551

The CMS indicators that decide how 70551 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

Codes related to 70551

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

How 70551 has changed in Utah

Price 70551 for an earlier date of service

Where the Utah rate applies

Utah is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 334 cities and communities in Utah. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Alpine
• Alta
• Altamont
• Alton
• Amalga
• American Fork
• Aneth
• Annabella

Browse all communities in Utah

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates