Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at Providence Saint John's Health Center
2121 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA · Providence · · NPI 1124026273
$2,227.75
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.
$6,365.00
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.
$306.88 with Aetna vs $2,872.10 with Blue Shield — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $306.88 | ↓ -86% |
| Humana | Choicecare Medicare Managed Care Plan | $313.02 | ↓ -86% |
| Blue Cross | Anthem Vivity City Of La Other Commercial Plan | $321.51 | ↓ -86% |
| Central Health Plan | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $337.57 | ↓ -85% |
| Blue Cross | Anthem Vivity Non City Of La Other Commercial Plan | $362.12 | ↓ -84% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Select/Navigate Hmo | $372.86 | ↓ -83% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $372.86 | ↓ -83% |
| La Care Health Plan | Covered Ca Exchange | $398.95 | ↓ -82% |
| Healthnet | Ambetter Hmo | $567.73 | ↓ -75% |
| Healthnet | Ambetter Ppo | $656.73 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $813.72 | ↓ -63% |
| Blue Shield | Epn/Ifp Benefit Exchange | $834.41 | ↓ -63% |
| Blue Shield | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $2,123.91 | ↓ -5% |
| Blue Cross | All Commercial Plans | $2,251.32 | ↑ +1% |
| Blue Shield | Tandem Ppo/Blue High Performance Ppo/Epo | $2,582.48 | ↑ +16% |
| Blue Shield | Ppo/Epo | $2,872.10 | ↑ +29% |
| Blue Shield | Hmo | $2,872.10 | ↑ +29% |
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 |
| Redwood City Medical Center | Redwood City | $3,281.60 | $323.00 – $323.00 |
| Santa Clara Medical Center | SANTA CLARA | $3,281.60 | $323.00 – $323.00 |
| Baldwin Park Medical Center | BALDWIN PARK | $2,496.00 | $220.00 – $220.00 |
| Riverside Medical Center | RIVERSIDE | $2,496.00 | $220.00 – $220.00 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $2,448.08 | $48.34 – $4,180.70 |
| Sacramento Medical Center | SACRAMENTO | $3,281.60 | $323.00 – $323.00 |
| Oakland Medical Center | Oakland | $3,281.60 | $323.00 – $323.00 |