Contrast x-ray of brain at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
1201 S Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO · SSM Health · · NPI 1942685920
$614.35
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.
$1,117.00
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.
$108.25 with BCBS vs $1,537.64 with UnitedHealthCare — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCBS | Anthem Pathway Exchange | $108.25 | ↓ -82% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access Choice All Commercial Plans | $110.57 | ↓ -82% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Preferred HMO/POS | $110.57 | ↓ -82% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access PPO | $119.18 | ↓ -81% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $192.64 | ↓ -69% |
| Healthlink | HMO | $208.03 | ↓ -66% |
| BCBS | Anthem Medicare Managed Care Plan | $769.48 | ↑ +25% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $785.19 | ↑ +28% |
| Centene | Wellcare Medicare Managed Care - PPO | $793.04 | ↑ +29% |
| Humana | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $798.53 | ↑ +30% |
| Aetna | Advantra Medicare Managed Care Plan | $800.89 | ↑ +30% |
| Essence | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $808.74 | ↑ +32% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Non-PPO Other Commercial Plan | $908.28 | ↑ +48% |
| Oscar | Exchange | $942.22 | ↑ +53% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Options PPO | $1,537.64 | ↑ +150% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Contrast x-ray of brain at other Missouri hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital | Saint Louis | not published | $92.09 – $1,287.32 |
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis | Lake Saint Louis | $981.75 | $94.28 – $942.22 |
| SSM Health DePaul Hospital - St. Louis | Bridgeton | $981.75 | $94.28 – $942.22 |
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital- Wentzville | Wentzville | $981.75 | $94.28 – $1,430.36 |
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles | Saint Charles | $981.75 | $94.28 – $942.22 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis | Richmond Heights | $981.75 | $94.28 – $942.22 |
| SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton | Fenton | $981.75 | $94.28 – $942.22 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Jefferson City | Jefferson City | not published | $160.60 – $1,413.34 |