Observation per hour at Stephens Memorial Hospital

181 Main St, Norway, ME · MaineHealth · · NPI 1346299815

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Sep 9, 2025 · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$134.15

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$134.15

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$52.32 with Aetna vs $130.13 with Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare — 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 →

Payer
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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
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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 Medicare Advantage $52.32 ↓ -61%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $52.32 ↓ -61%
Humana Medicare Advantage $52.32 ↓ -61%
Anthem Medicare Advantage $53.89 ↓ -60%
Wellcare Medicare Advantage $54.41 ↓ -59%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Maine's Choice $117.11 ↓ -13%
Aetna HMO/PPO $122.61 ↓ -9%
Cigna Commercial $125.03 ↓ -7%
Anthem HMO/POS/PPO Pathway Enhanced $125.34 ↓ -7%
Multiplan Commercial $126.10 ↓ -6%
Community Health Options Commercial $127.44 ↓ -5%
United Healthcare Commercial $128.78 ↓ -4%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Commercial $130.13 ↓ -3%
Aetna MHACO Government not published by hospital —
Aetna MHACO Commercial not published by hospital —

Visitor-reported prices

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Observation per hour at other Maine hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Franklin Memorial Hospital Farmington $120.30 $36.09 – $113.08
Lincoln Health Damariscotta $93.90 $35.68 – $88.27
Pen Bay Medical Center Rockport $255.50 $87.15 – $103.82
Waldo County General Hospital Belfast $106.20 $42.66 – $100.04
Mid Coast Hospital Brunswick $255.50 $180.38 – $241.19

All Maine hospitals for this procedure →