Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Mount Sterling
225 FALCON DR, Mt. Sterling, KY · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1679679146
$1,097.25
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.
$2,994.00
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.
$227.27 with BCBS - Anthem vs $2,251.34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $227.27 | ↓ -79% |
| Wellcare | Medicare|All Plans | $227.27 | ↓ -79% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $227.27 | ↓ -79% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $231.82 | ↓ -79% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $234.09 | ↓ -79% |
| Passport by Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $238.63 | ↓ -78% |
| CareSource | Commercial|All Plans | $454.54 | ↓ -59% |
| Wellcare | Medicaid|All Plans | $517.81 | ↓ -53% |
| Aetna | Medicaid|Better Health | $569.02 | ↓ -48% |
| Humana | Medicaid|All Plans | $574.72 | ↓ -48% |
| Passport by Molina | Medicaid|All Plans | $580.41 | ↓ -47% |
| United | Medicaid|All Plans | $580.41 | ↓ -47% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $597.48 | ↓ -46% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Pathway | $943.00 | ↓ -14% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $1,063.82 | ↓ -3% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|HMO PPO | $1,116.00 | ↑ +2% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options | $1,242.00 | ↑ +13% |
| United | Commercial|Options | $1,242.00 | ↑ +13% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,657.58 | ↑ +51% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $1,657.58 | ↑ +51% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $1,657.58 | ↑ +51% |
| Multiplan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,251.34 | ↑ +105% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other Kentucky hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Berea | Berea | $933.26 | $367.50 – $1,212.12 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph London | London | $1,345.99 | $427.06 – $2,836.47 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph East | Lexington | $870.84 | $427.06 – $1,797.25 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Hospital | Lexington | $1,021.31 | $394.40 – $1,527.89 |
| CHI Saint Joseph Health - Flaget Memorial Hospital | Bardstown | $1,339.88 | $427.06 – $2,860.13 |
| Adventhealth Manchester | Manchester | $4,902.71 | $223.88 – $223.88 |