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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at Pen Bay Medical Center

6 Glen Cove Dr, Rockport, ME · MaineHealth · · NPI 1982645305

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Sep 9, 2025 · Ingested Aug 13, 2026

$2,306.60

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.

$2,306.60

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.

$55.48 with Anthem vs $1,033.95 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 →

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
Anthem Medicare Advantage $55.48 ↓ -98%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $56.03 ↓ -98%
Wellcare Medicare Advantage $56.58 ↓ -98%
Aetna MHACO Government $57.28 ↓ -98%
Humana Medicare Advantage $63.17 ↓ -97%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $63.17 ↓ -97%
Aetna HMO/PPO $78.01 ↓ -97%
Anthem HMO/POS/PPO/Pathway Enhanced $97.76 ↓ -96%
Multiplan Commercial $107.18 ↓ -95%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Commercial $109.87 ↓ -95%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Maines Choice $109.87 ↓ -95%
United Healthcare Commercial $112.82 ↓ -95%
Aetna MHACO Commercial $114.23 ↓ -95%
Community Health Options Commercial $115.90 ↓ -95%
Cigna Commercial $1,033.95 ↓ -55%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at other Maine hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Franklin Memorial Hospital Farmington $2,049.00 $57.28 – $1,715.01
Stephens Memorial Hospital Norway $1,394.15 $57.28 – $1,299.35
Lincoln Health Damariscotta $5,227.40 $57.28 – $4,746.48
Waldo County General Hospital Belfast $2,254.00 $57.28 – $2,123.27
Mid Coast Hospital Brunswick $1,310.45 $54.93 – $681.20
Spring Harbor Hospital Westbrook not published $54.93 – $117.78

All Maine hospitals for this procedure →