Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at St. Mary Medical Center
1050 Linden Ave, Long Beach, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1194840421
$2,397.68
Cash price 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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$5,576.00
Gross charge 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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$342.79 with Noble IPA vs $4,460.80 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 →
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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 ?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 ?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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noble IPA | Medicaid|> 21 | $342.79 | ↓ -86% |
| Noble IPA | Medicaid|< 21 | $342.79 | ↓ -86% |
| Preferred IPA | Medicaid|Risk | $380.88 | ↓ -84% |
| Angeles IPA | Medicare|All Plans | $380.88 | ↓ -84% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $380.88 | ↓ -84% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $380.88 | ↓ -84% |
| HCLA | Medicaid|Preferred IPA < 21 | $380.88 | ↓ -84% |
| HCLA | Medicaid|Preferred IPA > 21 | $380.88 | ↓ -84% |
| Inland Empire Health Plan | Medicaid|All Plans | $380.88 | ↓ -84% |
| SMIPA | Medicare|All Plans | $448.70 | ↓ -81% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Central Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| HCLA | Medicare|Preferred IPA | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| EasyChoice | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Other Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Health Net | Medicare|HMO | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| LA Care | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Cigna | Medicare|All Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Other Plans | $453.77 | ↓ -81% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $462.85 | ↓ -81% |
| HPN | Medicare|Senior | $499.15 | ↓ -79% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $507.71 | ↓ -79% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $507.71 | ↓ -79% |
| Molina | Medicaid|All Plans | $533.23 | ↓ -78% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|Trauma | $567.21 | ↓ -76% |
| LA Care | Commercial|All Plans | $567.21 | ↓ -76% |
| HCLA | Commercial|Preferred IPA | $567.21 | ↓ -76% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|> 21 | $571.32 | ↓ -76% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|< 21 | $571.32 | ↓ -76% |
| Healthcare Partners | Medicare|All Plans | $695.00 | ↓ -71% |
| SevenCorners | Medicare|All Plans | $726.03 | ↓ -70% |
| Healthcare Partners | Commercial|All Plans | $787.00 | ↓ -67% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|BlueShield Promise | $799.00 | ↓ -67% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $828.27 | ↓ -65% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $828.27 | ↓ -65% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $828.27 | ↓ -65% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $828.27 | ↓ -65% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $978.62 | ↓ -59% |
| DHR | Medicaid|> 21 | $1,394.00 | ↓ -42% |
| DHR | Medicaid|< 21 | $1,394.00 | ↓ -42% |
| LA Care | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,569.23 | ↓ -35% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $1,827.00 | ↓ -24% |
| Care 1st | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,904.40 | ↓ -21% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,904.40 | ↓ -21% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,922.00 | ↓ -20% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $1,922.00 | ↓ -20% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $2,229.76 | ↓ -7% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $2,229.76 | ↓ -7% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,229.76 | ↓ -7% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,727.00 | ↑ +14% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $3,903.20 | ↑ +63% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $4,227.00 | ↑ +76% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $4,460.80 | ↑ +86% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $2,693.70 | $453.77 – $4,797.00 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $3,060.38 | $71.43 – $5,226.36 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $6,185.79 | $470.15 – $3,102.10 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $2,918.11 | $380.88 – $5,519.36 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $8,313.68 | $380.88 – $3,150.70 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $2,556.24 | $380.88 – $2,111.00 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $2,469.01 | $380.88 – $5,324.00 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $2,442.39 | $380.88 – $5,257.45 |