Upper Back (Thoracic Spine) MRI (with contrast) at Sequoia Hospital
170 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1568646735
$3,338.61
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.
$9,172.00
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.
$384.05 with Partnership Health Plan vs $7,521.04 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $384.05 | ↓ -88% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|> 21 | $384.05 | ↓ -88% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $384.05 | ↓ -88% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|< 21 | $384.05 | ↓ -88% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|> 21 | $384.05 | ↓ -88% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|< 21 | $384.05 | ↓ -88% |
| Brown Toland | Medicare|All Plans | $396.04 | ↓ -88% |
| Health Plan San Mateo | Medicaid|> 21 | $472.38 | ↓ -86% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $472.38 | ↓ -86% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $472.38 | ↓ -86% |
| Health Plan San Mateo | Medicaid|< 21 | $472.38 | ↓ -86% |
| Health Plan San Mateo | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Health Net | Commercial|Canopy Health | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Chinese Community | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $523.73 | ↓ -84% |
| Brown Toland | Commercial|All Plans | $576.10 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $828.27 | ↓ -75% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $828.27 | ↓ -75% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $828.27 | ↓ -75% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Plans | $1,551.72 | ↓ -54% |
| Sutter Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1,639.27 | ↓ -51% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,228.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $3,643.00 | ↑ +9% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $3,776.00 | ↑ +13% |
| Connected Care | Commercial|Intel | $3,943.96 | ↑ +18% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $6,236.96 | ↑ +87% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $7,062.44 | ↑ +112% |
| Multiplan | Commercial|All Plans | $7,521.04 | ↑ +125% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Upper Back (Thoracic Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redwood City Medical Center | Redwood City | $4,995.20 | $476.00 – $476.00 |
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $1,686.30 | $453.77 – $3,003.00 |
| Santa Clara Medical Center | SANTA CLARA | $4,995.20 | $476.00 – $476.00 |
| Baldwin Park Medical Center | BALDWIN PARK | $2,860.00 | $324.00 – $324.00 |
| Riverside Medical Center | RIVERSIDE | $2,860.00 | $324.00 – $324.00 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $1,597.78 | $71.43 – $2,728.61 |
| Sacramento Medical Center | SACRAMENTO | $4,995.20 | $476.00 – $476.00 |
| Oakland Medical Center | Oakland | $4,995.20 | $476.00 – $476.00 |