Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at California Hospital Medical Center

1401 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1114081056

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

$4,056.54

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.

$8,364.00

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.

$342.79 with Noble IPA vs $6,607.56 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
Noble IPA Medicaid|> 21 $342.79 ↓ -92%
Noble IPA Medicaid|< 21 $342.79 ↓ -92%
Preferred IPA Medicaid|Risk $380.88 ↓ -91%
Inland Empire Health Plan Medicaid|All Plans $380.88 ↓ -91%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA > 21 $380.88 ↓ -91%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA < 21 $380.88 ↓ -91%
Angeles IPA Medicare|All Plans $380.88 ↓ -91%
Gold Coast Health Plan Medicaid|All Plans $380.88 ↓ -91%
Health Net Medicare|All Other Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
LA Care Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Health Net Medicare|Senior $453.77 ↓ -89%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
GlobalCare Commercial|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
EasyChoice Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Central Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Preferred IPA Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
HCLA Medicare|Preferred IPA $453.77 ↓ -89%
Molina Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Other Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
United Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -89%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Exchange $469.00 ↓ -88%
Noble IPA Medicare|All Plans $476.46 ↓ -88%
HPN Medicare|Senior $499.15 ↓ -88%
Central California Alliance for Health Medicaid|All Plans $505.50 ↓ -88%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $516.47 ↓ -87%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $516.47 ↓ -87%
Molina Medicaid|> 21 $533.23 ↓ -87%
Molina Medicaid|< 21 $533.23 ↓ -87%
HCLA Commercial|Preferred IPA $567.21 ↓ -86%
LA Care Commercial|All Plans $567.21 ↓ -86%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $571.32 ↓ -86%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $571.32 ↓ -86%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|All Other Plans $711.00 ↓ -82%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|Promise $715.00 ↓ -82%
United Commercial|HMO $828.27 ↓ -80%
United Commercial|PPO $828.27 ↓ -80%
Healthcare Partners Medicare|All Plans $834.00 ↓ -79%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $875.00 ↓ -78%
Healthcare Partners Commercial|All Plans $945.00 ↓ -77%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|All Plans $1,223.28 ↓ -70%
LA Care Medicaid|All Plans $1,340.70 ↓ -67%
Care 1st Medicaid|All Plans $1,904.40 ↓ -53%
Blue Shield CA Medicaid|All Plans $1,904.40 ↓ -53%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $1,907.00 ↓ -53%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,907.00 ↓ -53%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,942.33 ↓ -52%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $1,942.33 ↓ -52%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $1,942.33 ↓ -52%
DHR Medicaid|> 21 $2,091.00 ↓ -48%
DHR Medicaid|< 21 $2,091.00 ↓ -48%
HPN Commercial|All Plans $5,185.68 ↑ +28%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $5,771.16 ↑ +42%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $5,854.80 ↑ +44%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $6,440.28 ↑ +59%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $6,607.56 ↑ +63%

Visitor-reported prices

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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

All California hospitals for this procedure →