Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at Glendale Memorial Hospital Health Center

1420 S Central Ave, Glendale, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1477610640

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$4,302.88

Cash price

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Discounted cash price

What a hospital charges a self-pay patient who pays directly, without going through insurance — usually well below the gross charge.

Example: A CT scan has a $3,200 gross charge but an $850 discounted cash price. Ask for it by name when scheduling — hospitals don't always advertise it up front.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$13,199.00

Gross charge

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Gross charge (chargemaster price)

The hospital's full, undiscounted list price — pulled from its internal "chargemaster" price list. Almost no one actually pays this.

Example: A chest X-ray has a gross charge of $1,450. The same hospital's discounted cash price for the same X-ray is $180 — the gross charge mostly anchors negotiations, not what patients pay.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$447.95 with HCLA vs $10,559.20 with MultiPlan — same scan, same building. Share

Negotiated rates by payer
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Negotiated rate

The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.

Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.

Full explanation →

Payer
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Payer

The insurance company footing the bill — Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicare, and so on.

Example: "Blue Cross Blue Shield" is the payer. Its negotiated rate for an MRI might be $904, while a different payer's negotiated rate for the same scan is $1,509.

Full explanation →
Plan
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Plan

The specific product an insurer sells — e.g. "Blue Cross PPO 500" — which sets your deductible, coinsurance and negotiated rates.

Example: Two people both insured by Aetna can owe very different amounts for the same MRI: $50 with an HMO plan's flat copay, or the full $1,200 toward a high-deductible PPO plan's unmet deductible.

Full explanation →
Negotiated rate vs. cash
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA < 21 $447.95 ↓ -90%
Health Net Medicaid|Preferred IPA $447.95 ↓ -90%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA > 21 $447.95 ↓ -90%
CareMore Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
United Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
HCLA Medicare|Preferred IPA $453.77 ↓ -89%
Care 1st Medicare|All Other Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
DHR Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
MHN Commercial|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
US Behavioral Health Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Humana Commercial|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $462.38 ↓ -89%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|Alhambra Senior $521.84 ↓ -88%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $549.19 ↓ -87%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $549.19 ↓ -87%
HPN Medicaid|> 21 $550.98 ↓ -87%
HPN Medicaid|< 21 $550.98 ↓ -87%
LA Care Commercial|All Plans $567.21 ↓ -87%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Alhambra $567.21 ↓ -87%
HCLA Commercial|Preferred IPA $567.21 ↓ -87%
HCLA Commercial|All Other Plans $567.21 ↓ -87%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|HCLA $567.21 ↓ -87%
Health Net Commercial|HCLA $567.21 ↓ -87%
Health Net Medicaid|Alhambra > 21 $582.34 ↓ -86%
Health Net Medicaid|Alhambra < 21 $582.34 ↓ -86%
Molina Medicaid|All Plans $627.13 ↓ -85%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $671.92 ↓ -84%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $671.92 ↓ -84%
Care 1st Medicare|BlueShield Promise $725.00 ↓ -83%
United Commercial|HMO $828.27 ↓ -81%
United Commercial|Options PPO $828.27 ↓ -81%
United Commercial|PPO $828.27 ↓ -81%
United Commercial|Navigate $828.27 ↓ -81%
Healthcare Partners Medicare|All Plans $1,184.00 ↓ -72%
Healthcare Partners Commercial|All Plans $1,342.00 ↓ -69%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $1,414.37 ↓ -67%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,414.37 ↓ -67%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $1,414.37 ↓ -67%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $1,497.00 ↓ -65%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|All Plans $1,739.64 ↓ -60%
LA Care Medicaid|All Plans $1,894.83 ↓ -56%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,922.00 ↓ -55%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $1,922.00 ↓ -55%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $1,976.00 ↓ -54%
Care 1st Medicaid|All Plans $2,239.75 ↓ -48%
Health Net Medicaid|DHR $3,299.75 ↓ -23%
HPN Medicare|All Plans $6,071.54 ↑ +41%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $7,391.44 ↑ +72%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Magellan $7,919.40 ↑ +84%
SCAN Medicare|All Plans $8,183.38 ↑ +90%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $8,579.35 ↑ +99%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $10,559.20 ↑ +145%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $4,796.10 $453.77 – $8,541.00
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $3,672.12 $71.43 – $6,271.05
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $7,675.50 $470.15 – $5,091.33
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $3,805.78 $447.95 – $6,622.84
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $9,233.43 $447.95 – $3,520.16
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $3,044.28 $447.95 – $2,111.00
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $2,843.72 $447.95 – $6,132.00
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $2,813.06 $447.95 – $6,055.35

All California hospitals for this procedure →