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Upper Back (Thoracic Spine) MRI (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

$1,864.50

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.

$1,864.50

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.

$81.36 with Anthem vs $1,445.05 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 $81.36 ↓ -96%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $82.16 ↓ -96%
Wellcare Medicare Advantage $82.97 ↓ -96%
Aetna MHACO Government $84.11 ↓ -95%
Humana Medicare Advantage $92.63 ↓ -95%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $92.63 ↓ -95%
Aetna HMO/PPO $113.99 ↓ -94%
Anthem HMO/POS/PPO/Pathway Enhanced $142.69 ↓ -92%
Multiplan Commercial $156.64 ↓ -92%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Commercial $160.62 ↓ -91%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Maines Choice $160.62 ↓ -91%
United Healthcare Commercial $164.88 ↓ -91%
Aetna MHACO Commercial $166.94 ↓ -91%
Community Health Options Commercial $170.13 ↓ -91%
Cigna Commercial $1,445.05 ↓ -22%

Visitor-reported prices

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Upper Back (Thoracic Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other Maine hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Franklin Memorial Hospital Farmington $3,136.80 $84.11 – $2,625.50
Stephens Memorial Hospital Norway $2,702.50 $84.11 – $2,518.73
Lincoln Health Damariscotta $2,822.25 $84.11 – $2,562.60
Waldo County General Hospital Belfast $2,775.00 $84.11 – $2,614.05
Mid Coast Hospital Brunswick $1,864.50 $80.55 – $943.20
Spring Harbor Hospital Westbrook not published $80.55 – $171.99

All Maine hospitals for this procedure →