Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at Jersey City Medical Center
355 Grand St, Jersey City, NJ · RWJBarnabas Health · · NPI 1689744856
$697.37
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.
$3,356.00
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.
$187.16 with Wellpoint vs $3,317.00 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 →
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellpoint | NJ Family Care | $187.16 | ↓ -73% |
| Cigna | Local Plus | $326.00 | ↓ -53% |
| Cigna | HMO | $414.00 | ↓ -41% |
| Clover Health | Medicare Advantage | $420.58 | ↓ -40% |
| Humana | Medicare | $420.58 | ↓ -40% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $420.58 | ↓ -40% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | Medicare Advantage | $420.58 | ↓ -40% |
| Fidelis Care | Medicare Advantage | $420.58 | ↓ -40% |
| Wellpoint | Medicare Advantage | $420.58 | ↓ -40% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $428.99 | ↓ -38% |
| Cigna | PPO | $436.00 | ↓ -37% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | NJ Health | $492.00 | ↓ -29% |
| United Healthcare | Oxford Metro | $493.70 | ↓ -29% |
| United Healthcare | Nexus | $493.70 | ↓ -29% |
| Aetna | HMO | $516.12 | ↓ -26% |
| Aetna | PPO | $516.12 | ↓ -26% |
| United Healthcare | Oxford Commercial | $603.32 | ↓ -13% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $603.32 | ↓ -13% |
| Amerihealth | Local Value | $769.19 | ↑ +10% |
| Amerihealth | Regional Preferred | $769.19 | ↑ +10% |
| Emblem Health | Commercial | $799.10 | ↑ +15% |
| Wellcare | Ambetter Health Commercial | $836.95 | ↑ +20% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | State Benefit Plan | $864.02 | ↑ +24% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | Non-Managed | $864.02 | ↑ +24% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | Omnia | $864.02 | ↑ +24% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | Managed | $864.02 | ↑ +24% |
| United Healthcare | Community Plan | $925.58 | ↑ +33% |
| Fidelis Care | NJ Family Care | $943.37 | ↑ +35% |
| Aetna | Better Health | $1,013.84 | ↑ +45% |
| Qualcare Inc | PPO/WC | $2,010.00 | ↑ +188% |
| First Health | Commercial | $2,013.60 | ↑ +189% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | Worker's Comp | $2,812.99 | ↑ +303% |
| Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | PIP | $3,046.24 | ↑ +337% |
| Qualcare Inc | HMO/POS | $3,317.00 | ↑ +376% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
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 |
| Monmouth Medical Center | Long Branch | $734.29 | $326.00 – $2,072.00 |
| Bayshore Medical Center | Holmdel | $395.29 | $395.29 – $4,332.00 |
| Hackensack University Medical Center | Hackensack | $420.58 | $336.46 – $4,332.00 |