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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center
1300 Anne Street NW, Bemidji, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1801870191
$4,034.40
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.
$5,043.00
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.
$277.45 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $4,538.70 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $277.45 | ↓ -93% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $332.96 | ↓ -92% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $357.50 | ↓ -91% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $361.00 | ↓ -91% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $361.00 | ↓ -91% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $361.00 | ↓ -91% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $361.00 | ↓ -91% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $361.00 | ↓ -91% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $368.01 | ↓ -91% |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | $374.99 | ↓ -91% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $392.84 | ↓ -90% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $1,359.66 | ↓ -66% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $2,298.10 | ↓ -43% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $2,620.34 | ↓ -35% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $2,703.55 | ↓ -33% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,773.65 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial | $3,082.79 | ↓ -24% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $3,530.10 | ↓ -13% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $3,544.72 | ↓ -12% |
| United Healthcare | CSP Top 20 | $3,837.72 | ↓ -5% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $4,135.26 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $4,210.91 | ↑ +4% |
| Medica | Choice | $4,236.12 | ↑ +5% |
| Medica | Elect | $4,533.66 | ↑ +12% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $4,538.70 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $4,538.70 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $4,538.70 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $4,538.70 | ↑ +13% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $4,217.60 | $374.99 – $4,744.80 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | $4,399.20 | $374.99 – $4,949.10 |
| Sanford Bagley Medical Center | Bagley | $4,034.40 | $374.99 – $4,538.70 |
| Sanford Wheaton | Wheaton | $3,850.40 | $374.99 – $4,331.70 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $4,279.20 | $374.99 – $4,814.10 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $4,224.80 | $283.44 – $4,752.90 |
| Sanford Tracy Hospital | Tracy | $4,399.20 | $374.99 – $4,949.10 |
| Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center | Thief River Falls | $4,103.20 | $374.99 – $4,616.10 |