Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton

1 Hamilton Health Pl, Hamilton Township, NJ · RWJBarnabas Health · · NPI 1629069638

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Mar 5, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$550.04

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.

Full explanation →

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

$3,356.00

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.

$327.00 with Cigna vs $3,493.00 with Qualcare Inc — 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
Cigna Local Plus $327.00 ↓ -41%
Humana Medicare $390.30 ↓ -29%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Medicare Advantage $390.30 ↓ -29%
Fidelis Care Medicare Advantage $390.30 ↓ -29%
Aetna Medicare $390.30 ↓ -29%
Clover Health Medicare Advantage $390.30 ↓ -29%
Wellpoint Medicare Advantage $390.30 ↓ -29%
United Healthcare Medicare $398.11 ↓ -28%
United Healthcare Community Plan $408.08 ↓ -26%
Cigna HMO $414.00 ↓ -25%
Fidelis Care NJ Family Care $419.83 ↓ -24%
Cigna PPO $437.00 ↓ -21%
Aetna Better Health $447.01 ↓ -19%
Aetna PPO $487.27 ↓ -11%
Aetna HMO $487.27 ↓ -11%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey NJ Health $492.00 ↓ -11%
United Healthcare Nexus $493.70 ↓ -10%
United Healthcare Oxford Metro $493.70 ↓ -10%
United Healthcare Oxford Commercial $603.32 ↑ +10%
United Healthcare Commercial $603.32 ↑ +10%
Emblem Health Commercial $683.03 ↑ +24%
Amerihealth Regional Preferred $715.52 ↑ +30%
Amerihealth Local Value $769.19 ↑ +40%
Wellcare Ambetter Health Commercial $776.70 ↑ +41%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Omnia $1,381.39 ↑ +151%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey State Benefit Plan $1,587.62 ↑ +189%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Managed $1,691.44 ↑ +208%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Non-Managed $1,726.77 ↑ +214%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Worker's Comp $1,923.32 ↑ +250%
First Health Commercial $2,013.60 ↑ +266%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey PIP $2,852.60 ↑ +419%
Qualcare Inc HMO/POS/PPO $3,493.00 ↑ +535%
Qualcare Inc WC $3,493.00 ↑ +535%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other New-jersey hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Trinitas Regional Medical Center Elizabeth $629.92 $144.63 – $1,037.77
Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center Livingston $711.13 $400.67 – $2,072.00
Community Medical Center Toms River $696.03 $326.00 – $2,072.00
Clara Maass Medical Center Belleville $667.50 $326.00 – $2,072.00
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Newark $699.05 $148.88 – $2,072.00
Jersey City Medical Center Jersey City $697.37 $187.16 – $2,010.00
Monmouth Medical Center Long Branch $734.29 $326.00 – $2,072.00
Bayshore Medical Center Holmdel $395.29 $395.29 – $4,332.00

All New-jersey hospitals for this procedure →