Contrast x-ray of brain at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles
300 1St Capitol Dr, Saint Charles, MO · SSM Health · · NPI 1467521146
$679.80
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$1,236.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$75.52 with Cigna vs $754.65 with UnitedHealthCare — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigna | OAP Other Commercial Plan | $75.52 | ↓ -89% |
| BCBS | Anthem Pathway Exchange | $76.16 | ↓ -89% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access Choice PPO | $78.26 | ↓ -88% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Preferred HMO/POS | $78.63 | ↓ -88% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access PPO | $84.81 | ↓ -88% |
| Healthlink | Employers Choice All Commercial Plans | $194.11 | ↓ -71% |
| Healthlink | HMO | $194.11 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $349.44 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | Gold Advantage Medicare Managed Care Plan | $352.93 | ↓ -48% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $354.61 | ↓ -48% |
| BCBS | Anthem Medicare Managed Care Plan | $354.68 | ↓ -48% |
| Humana | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $355.38 | ↓ -48% |
| Aetna | Advantra Medicare Managed Care Plan | $361.67 | ↓ -47% |
| Oscar | Exchange | $419.32 | ↓ -38% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Options PPO | $736.24 | ↑ +8% |
| UnitedHealthCare | St. Louis University Employee | $754.65 | ↑ +11% |
| UnitedHealthCare | All Commercial Plans | $754.65 | ↑ +11% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Contrast x-ray of brain at other Missouri hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis | Lake Saint Louis | $679.80 | $75.52 – $419.32 |
| SSM Health DePaul Hospital - St. Louis | Bridgeton | $679.80 | $75.52 – $419.32 |
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital- Wentzville | Wentzville | $679.80 | $75.52 – $736.24 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis | Richmond Heights | $679.80 | $75.52 – $419.32 |
| SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton | Fenton | $679.80 | $75.52 – $419.32 |
| SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital | Saint Louis | not published | $75.52 – $467.51 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Jefferson City | Jefferson City | not published | $115.02 – $628.99 |
| SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital | Saint Louis | not published | $74.40 – $662.62 |