Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at New Ulm Medical Center

1324 5th St N. New Ulm, MN 56073, MN · Allinahealth · · NPI 1558328435

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Jun 16, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$1,211.06

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.

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

$2,162.60

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.

$233.60 with allina aetna medicare (n) vs $1,622.00 with all other contracted care (a b c d e g h n o r s u) — 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
allina aetna medicare (n) allina aetna medicare (n) $233.60 ↓ -81%
medicare medicare (n) $245.90 ↓ -80%
ucare pmap (a b c d e g n o s u r h) ucare pmap (abdmnorsuv) $326.35 ↓ -73%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc pmap (n) $330.85 ↓ -73%
medicaid medicaid ma (n) $710.01 ↓ -41%
medicare other all other medicare (n) $718.22 ↓ -41%
medica medica medicare (r) $720.62 ↓ -40%
medica health system medica dual solutions (r) $729.90 ↓ -40%
medica health system medica pmap (n) $748.00 ↓ -38%
bcbs bc medicare (n) $754.13 ↓ -38%
all other medicaid all other medicaid (n) $778.56 ↓ -36%
south country health alliance scha msho (n) $802.89 ↓ -34%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc state health plan (n) $817.22 ↓ -33%
south country health alliance scha pmap (n) $840.84 ↓ -31%
bc aware/blue plus (nr) bc aware/blue plus (nr) $917.14 ↓ -24%
aetna aetna elevate (n r) $993.80 ↓ -18%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc premier(n) $1,049.99 ↓ -13%
aetna aetna performance (n r) $1,073.60 ↓ -11%
medica ubh (n) medica ubh (n) $1,135.40 ↓ -6%
bcbs bc aehp (n) $1,235.17 ↑ +2%
americas ppo (araz)(b d n o r s v) americas ppo (araz)(b d n o r s v) $1,251.21 ↑ +3%
medica ubh pmap medica ubh pmap (n) $1,297.60 ↑ +7%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc high value/performance network (n) $1,325.89 ↑ +9%
hpi-cigna hpi cigna (n) $1,326.46 ↑ +10%
americas ppo (araz) (b d n h o r s) americas ppo (araz) (b d n h o r s v) $1,362.48 ↑ +13%
first health (a c e g h u b d n o r s) first health (abdmnosurv) $1,362.48 ↑ +13%
aetna direct/indirect network aetna direct/indirect network (n r) $1,371.89 ↑ +13%
all other contracted care (a b c d e g h n o r s u) all other contracted care (a b c d m h n o r s u v) $1,622.00 ↑ +34%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Canby Medical Center Canby $3,237.60 $253.81 – $3,642.30
Sanford Westbrook Hospital Westbrook $3,189.60 $253.81 – $3,588.30
Sanford Bagley Medical Center Bagley $2,872.80 $253.81 – $3,231.90
Sanford Wheaton Wheaton $2,809.60 $253.81 – $3,160.80
Sanford Luverne Medical Center Luverne $2,875.20 $253.81 – $3,234.60
Sanford Bemidji Medical Center Bemidji $2,872.80 $176.78 – $3,231.90
Sanford Worthington Medical Center Worthington $3,168.80 $180.60 – $3,564.90
Sanford Tracy Hospital Tracy $3,189.60 $253.81 – $3,588.30

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →