Learning institutions vs MRI's R Us

I used to get my 6 month MRI's at UCSF. The price, which started at $3000, rose to $10,000 in the span if 3 years. My 15% co-pay was getting ridiculously expensive. I looked at the breakdown of the price, which included abdomen, pelvis, with and without contrast, the radiologist fee and gadolinium, the constrast. The gadolinium price had quintupled and the radiologist fee was tripled from one year to the next!

I called to complain. First, I was told that those market prices for on those components can vary wildly. Secondly I was told that learning instititions are much more expensive for some tests such as MRI's than an an outpatient clinic. The reason was that learning institutions need to make money from somewhere. 

Indeed I checked a local clinic that specialized in MRI's and they were a lot cheaper. I don't regret my earlier MRI's being done at the hospital that saved my life, but if you are willing to shop around for a procedure, you'll find a wide variation on price of these procedures.