Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Berea
305 Estill Street, Berea, KY · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1740488386
$1,614.40
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$3,349.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$923.99 with Wellcare vs $3,047.59 with Multiplan — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellcare | Medicaid|All Plans | $923.99 | ↓ -43% |
| Wellcare | Medicare|All Plans | $937.72 | ↓ -42% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $937.72 | ↓ -42% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $937.72 | ↓ -42% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $956.48 | ↓ -41% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $965.86 | ↓ -40% |
| Passport by Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $984.61 | ↓ -39% |
| Humana | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,038.19 | ↓ -36% |
| Aetna | Medicaid|Better Health | $1,038.19 | ↓ -36% |
| Passport by Molina | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,058.96 | ↓ -34% |
| United | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,058.96 | ↓ -34% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $1,090.10 | ↓ -32% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $1,540.54 | ↓ -5% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options | $1,808.46 | ↑ +12% |
| United | Commercial|Options | $1,808.46 | ↑ +12% |
| CareSource | Commercial|All Plans | $1,875.44 | ↑ +16% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Pathway | $2,109.87 | ↑ +31% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $2,310.81 | ↑ +43% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,310.81 | ↑ +43% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|HMO PPO | $2,411.28 | ↑ +49% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,578.73 | ↑ +60% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $2,578.73 | ↑ +60% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $2,578.73 | ↑ +60% |
| Multiplan | Commercial|All Plans | $3,047.59 | ↑ +89% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at other Kentucky hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Mount Sterling | Mt. Sterling | $1,558.28 | $889.95 – $3,869.32 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph London | London | $1,453.75 | $581.77 – $3,707.34 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph East | Lexington | $1,177.72 | $567.00 – $2,668.12 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Hospital | Lexington | $1,449.06 | $567.00 – $2,799.16 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Flaget Memorial Hospital | Bardstown | $1,902.48 | $755.26 – $4,080.44 |
| Adventhealth Manchester | Manchester | $6,008.53 | $327.35 – $327.35 |