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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at Sterling Regional Medical Center
615 Fairhurst Street, Sterling, CO · Banner Health · · NPI 1942238555
$682.25
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.
$2,604.00
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.
$358.91 with Clear Spring Health vs $2,525.88 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear Spring Health | Medicare Advantage | $358.91 | ↓ -47% |
| United Healthcare | UHC Medicare Advantage | $358.91 | ↓ -47% |
| Longevity | Medicare Advantage | $369.68 | ↓ -46% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $380.44 | ↓ -44% |
| Devoted Health Services | Medicare Advantage | $394.80 | ↓ -42% |
| Pinnacol Assurance Workers Comp | Pinnacol Assurance WC | $562.77 | ↓ -18% |
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $726.52 | ↑ +6% |
| Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Colorado | Medicare | $807.24 | ↑ +18% |
| Banner Health | Banner Choice Plus/Banner Select | $807.24 | ↑ +18% |
| HealthSpring Life & Health Insurance Company, Inc. | Medicare Advantage | $807.24 | ↑ +18% |
| Medica | Medicare Advantage | $807.24 | ↑ +18% |
| Medicare | Traditional Medicare | $807.24 | ↑ +18% |
| Assist Health Group | AHG Specialty Network | $968.69 | ↑ +42% |
| Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Colorado | Pathway Standard | $1,379.34 | ↑ +102% |
| United Healthcare | Colorado Navigate/Colorado Option | $1,510.32 | ↑ +121% |
| Denver Health Medical Plan | Commercial | $1,576.72 | ↑ +131% |
| Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Colorado | Pathway | $1,921.23 | ↑ +182% |
| Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Colorado | Blue Priority/HMO/PPO/Indemnity | $1,978.78 | ↑ +190% |
| Medica | Commercial | $2,169.13 | ↑ +218% |
| United Healthcare | Colorado Doctor's Plan | $2,221.21 | ↑ +226% |
| Apostrophe, Inc. | Commercial | $2,343.60 | ↑ +244% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $2,343.60 | ↑ +244% |
| Aetna | Commercial/Medical Rental | $2,421.72 | ↑ +255% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $2,468.59 | ↑ +262% |
| First Choice of the Midwest | Commercial | $2,473.80 | ↑ +263% |
| Hue Health, Inc | Medicare Advantage | $2,473.80 | ↑ +263% |
| Rocky Mountain Health Plans | Private Plan/Self Insured Plan | $2,473.80 | ↑ +263% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $2,525.88 | ↑ +270% |
| TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp - VA CCN | Tricare | not published by hospital | — |
| Molina Healthcare | Medicaid/CHIP | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at other Colorado hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banner Fort Collins Medical Center | Fort Collins | $504.32 | $348.14 – $1,520.95 |
| Banner North Colorado Medical Center - Loveland Campus | Loveland | $457.89 | $348.58 – $1,520.95 |
| East Morgan County Hospital | Brush | $1,585.84 | $99.03 – $227.95 |