Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at Raritan Bay Medical Center

530 New Brunswick Avenue, Perth Amboy, NJ · Hackensack Meridian Health · · NPI 1790297455

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Dec 31, 2025 · Ingested Sep 4, 2026

$395.64

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.

$4,675.00

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.

$395.64 with WELLCARE vs $4,516.05 with HORIZON — 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
WELLCARE MANAGED MEDICAID $395.64 ↑ +0%
WELLCARE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $395.64 ↑ +0%
HORIZON BCBS BRAVEN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $395.64 ↑ +0%
VACCN ALL PRODUCTS $395.64 ↑ +0%
UNITED COMMUNITY/AMERICHOICE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $415.42 ↑ +5%
AMERIGROUP MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $423.33 ↑ +7%
AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $431.24 ↑ +9%
UNITED HEALTHCARE DSNP $474.76 ↑ +20%
KARNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $536.96 ↑ +36%
CIGNA HMO $608.30 ↑ +54%
CIGNA PPO $608.30 ↑ +54%
AETNA MANAGED MEDICAID $621.78 ↑ +57%
AETNA HMO $650.36 ↑ +64%
AETNA PPO $650.36 ↑ +64%
HORIZON MANAGED MEDICAID $675.00 ↑ +71%
CLOVER MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $841.50 ↑ +113%
UNITED HEALTHCARE HMO $895.45 ↑ +126%
OXFORD ALL PRODUCTS $895.45 ↑ +126%
UNITED HEALTHCARE MANAGED MEDICAID $951.00 ↑ +140%
SEOUL MEDICAL GROUP ALL PRODUCTS $967.73 ↑ +145%
ACTIVECARE FIRST MCO ALL PRODUCTS $1,060.00 ↑ +168%
AMERIHEALTH LOCAL HMO $1,094.00 ↑ +177%
AMERIHEALTH REGIONAL HMO $1,102.96 ↑ +179%
QUALCARE WORKERS COMP $1,947.00 ↑ +392%
QUALCARE PPO $2,921.00 ↑ +638%
QUALCARE HMO $2,921.00 ↑ +638%
BRIGHTON HEALTH PLAN ALL PRODUCTS $3,225.75 ↑ +715%
HORIZON OMNIA $3,571.70 ↑ +803%
HORIZON PIP $3,618.45 ↑ +815%
HORIZON WORKERS COMP $3,643.70 ↑ +821%
AETNA ASA $3,660.53 ↑ +825%
CIGNA BH $3,740.00 ↑ +845%
HORIZON INDEMNITY $3,928.40 ↑ +893%
MULTIPLAN - PHCS ALL PRODUCTS $3,973.75 ↑ +904%
BERGEN RISK ALL PRODUCTS $4,332.00 ↑ +995%
HORIZON SHP $4,361.78 ↑ +1002%
HORIZON HMO $4,403.85 ↑ +1013%
HORIZON PPO $4,516.05 ↑ +1041%
AMERIGROUP MANAGED MEDICAID not published by hospital

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 →