Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Mount Sterling
225 FALCON DR, Mt. Sterling, KY · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1679679146
$1,053.27
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.
$2,874.00
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.
$335.79 with Wellcare vs $2,615.34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellcare | Medicare|All Plans | $335.79 | ↓ -68% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $335.79 | ↓ -68% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $335.79 | ↓ -68% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $342.51 | ↓ -67% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $345.86 | ↓ -67% |
| Passport by Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $352.58 | ↓ -67% |
| Wellcare | Medicaid|All Plans | $601.53 | ↓ -43% |
| Aetna | Medicaid|Better Health | $661.02 | ↓ -37% |
| Humana | Medicaid|All Plans | $667.64 | ↓ -37% |
| CareSource | Commercial|All Plans | $671.58 | ↓ -36% |
| United | Medicaid|All Plans | $674.25 | ↓ -36% |
| Passport by Molina | Medicaid|All Plans | $674.25 | ↓ -36% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $694.08 | ↓ -34% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Pathway | $943.00 | ↓ -10% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|HMO PPO | $1,116.00 | ↑ +6% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $1,235.82 | ↑ +17% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options | $1,242.00 | ↑ +18% |
| United | Commercial|Options | $1,242.00 | ↑ +18% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $1,925.58 | ↑ +83% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,925.58 | ↑ +83% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $1,925.58 | ↑ +83% |
| Multiplan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,615.34 | ↑ +148% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other Kentucky hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Berea | Berea | $998.82 | $571.67 – $1,885.52 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph London | London | $1,399.87 | $560.21 – $3,569.93 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph East | Lexington | $837.50 | $509.58 – $1,897.35 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Hospital | Lexington | $1,031.21 | $417.19 – $1,616.16 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Flaget Memorial Hospital | Bardstown | $1,728.10 | $664.53 – $3,706.43 |
| Adventhealth Manchester | Manchester | not published | $327.35 – $327.35 |