healthcosts.net
Brain MRI (without contrast) at Waldo County General Hospital
118 Northport Ave, Belfast, ME · MaineHealth · · NPI 1841397932
$2,360.60
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.
$2,360.60
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.
$69.85 with Aetna vs $2,223.69 with Cigna — 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 | MHACO Government | $69.85 | ↓ -97% |
| Anthem | Medicare Advantage | $69.85 | ↓ -97% |
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $80.33 | ↓ -97% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $80.33 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $80.33 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellcare | Medicare Advantage | $83.54 | ↓ -96% |
| Aetna | HMO/PPO | $94.84 | ↓ -96% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $126.92 | ↓ -95% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $133.60 | ↓ -94% |
| Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare | Commercial | $133.63 | ↓ -94% |
| Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare | Maine's Choice | $133.63 | ↓ -94% |
| Aetna | MHACO Commercial | $138.77 | ↓ -94% |
| Community Health Options | Commercial | $140.98 | ↓ -94% |
| Anthem | HMO/POS/PPO Pathway Enhanced | $175.66 | ↓ -93% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $2,223.69 | ↓ -6% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRI (without contrast) at other Maine hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Memorial Hospital | Farmington | $2,559.90 | $69.85 – $2,142.64 |
| Stephens Memorial Hospital | Norway | $1,492.10 | $69.85 – $1,390.64 |
| Lincoln Health | Damariscotta | $2,181.10 | $69.85 – $1,980.44 |
| Pen Bay Medical Center | Rockport | $1,330.10 | $67.38 – $1,022.27 |
| Mid Coast Hospital | Brunswick | $1,330.10 | $66.71 – $939.05 |
| Spring Harbor Hospital | Westbrook | not published | $66.71 – $142.94 |