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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at Sanford Wheaton
401 12th St N, Wheaton, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1154615573
$3,850.40
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.
$4,813.00
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.
$374.99 with Ucare vs $4,524.22 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 | $374.99 | ↓ -90% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $607.75 | ↓ -84% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $1,215.50 | ↓ -68% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $2,425.75 | ↓ -37% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $2,603.83 | ↓ -32% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $2,627.90 | ↓ -32% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $2,627.90 | ↓ -32% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $2,627.90 | ↓ -32% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $2,627.90 | ↓ -32% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $2,627.90 | ↓ -32% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,647.15 | ↓ -31% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $2,678.43 | ↓ -30% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $2,911.87 | ↓ -24% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Commercial | $3,312.79 | ↓ -14% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $3,799.38 | ↓ -1% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $3,898.53 | ↑ +1% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $4,018.86 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $4,182.50 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $4,228.70 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Choice | $4,230.63 | ↑ +10% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $4,331.70 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $4,331.70 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $4,331.70 | ↑ +13% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers/SD Exchange Commercial | $4,469.83 | ↑ +16% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $4,469.83 | ↑ +16% |
| Medica | Elect | $4,524.22 | ↑ +18% |
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 Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $4,279.20 | $374.99 – $4,814.10 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $4,034.40 | $277.45 – $4,538.70 |
| 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 |