Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital
2550 Sister Mary Columba Dr, Red Bluff, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1083732853
$2,883.21
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.
$4,937.00
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.
$307.13 with United vs $4,838.26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -89% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -89% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -89% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -89% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -89% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -89% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -89% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|All Plans | $528.26 | ↓ -82% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,147.23 | ↓ -60% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,180.98 | ↓ -59% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $2,419.13 | ↓ -16% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $2,764.72 | ↓ -4% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,962.20 | ↑ +3% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,455.90 | ↑ +20% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $3,455.90 | ↑ +20% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $3,455.90 | ↑ +20% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $3,604.01 | ↑ +25% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,604.01 | ↑ +25% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,604.01 | ↑ +25% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $4,443.30 | ↑ +54% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $4,591.41 | ↑ +59% |
| Coventry | Commercial|All Plans | $4,838.26 | ↑ +68% |
| Health Net | Commercial|All Plans | $4,838.26 | ↑ +68% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $4,838.26 | ↑ +68% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $3,285.00 | $307.13 – $5,850.00 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $2,448.08 | $48.34 – $4,180.70 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $5,534.52 | $321.54 – $2,866.28 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $2,416.49 | $266.80 – $4,191.46 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $6,473.52 | $266.80 – $2,461.76 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $1,936.48 | $242.46 – $2,111.00 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $1,702.52 | $266.80 – $3,671.20 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $1,684.17 | $266.80 – $3,625.31 |