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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) X-ray at Sanford Tracy Hospital
251 5th St E, Tracy, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1003851171
$501.60
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.
$627.00
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.
$111.66 with Ucare vs $589.38 with Medica — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | $111.66 | ↓ -78% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $151.80 | ↓ -70% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $244.53 | ↓ -51% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $262.09 | ↓ -48% |
| Wellmark SD | Medicare Replacement | $262.09 | ↓ -48% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $264.59 | ↓ -47% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $264.59 | ↓ -47% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $264.59 | ↓ -47% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $264.59 | ↓ -47% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $269.92 | ↓ -46% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $303.47 | ↓ -39% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $344.85 | ↓ -31% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $432.00 | ↓ -14% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $494.95 | ↓ -1% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $494.95 | ↓ -1% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $501.60 | ↑ +0% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | State Employees | $512.89 | ↑ +2% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $523.55 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $544.86 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $550.88 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Choice | $551.13 | ↑ +10% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $564.30 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $564.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $564.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $564.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $580.10 | ↑ +16% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $582.29 | ↑ +16% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $582.29 | ↑ +16% |
| Medica | Elect | $589.38 | ↑ +18% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) X-ray at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $425.60 | $111.66 – $478.80 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | $501.60 | $111.66 – $564.30 |
| Sanford Bagley Medical Center | Bagley | $444.00 | $111.66 – $499.50 |
| Sanford Wheaton | Wheaton | $397.60 | $111.66 – $447.30 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $274.40 | $83.04 – $308.70 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $444.00 | $79.32 – $499.50 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $288.80 | $81.04 – $324.90 |
| Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center | Thief River Falls | $412.00 | $111.66 – $463.50 |