Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without 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

$267.78

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.

$4,439.00

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.

$267.78 with WELLCARE vs $4,332.00 with BERGEN RISK — 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 $267.78 ↑ +0%
WELLCARE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $267.78 ↑ +0%
HORIZON BCBS BRAVEN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $267.78 ↑ +0%
VACCN ALL PRODUCTS $267.78 ↑ +0%
UNITED COMMUNITY/AMERICHOICE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $281.17 ↑ +5%
AMERIGROUP MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $286.53 ↑ +7%
AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $291.88 ↑ +9%
UNITED HEALTHCARE DSNP $321.34 ↑ +20%
KARNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $378.00 ↑ +41%
CIGNA PPO $393.77 ↑ +47%
CIGNA HMO $393.77 ↑ +47%
AETNA PPO $417.98 ↑ +56%
AETNA HMO $417.98 ↑ +56%
UNITED HEALTHCARE HMO $559.79 ↑ +109%
OXFORD ALL PRODUCTS $559.79 ↑ +109%
AETNA MANAGED MEDICAID $590.39 ↑ +120%
HORIZON MANAGED MEDICAID $742.50 ↑ +177%
CLOVER MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $799.02 ↑ +198%
SEOUL MEDICAL GROUP ALL PRODUCTS $918.87 ↑ +243%
AMERIHEALTH LOCAL HMO $944.81 ↑ +253%
UNITED HEALTHCARE MANAGED MEDICAID $951.00 ↑ +255%
AMERIHEALTH REGIONAL HMO $952.56 ↑ +256%
ACTIVECARE FIRST MCO ALL PRODUCTS $1,060.00 ↑ +296%
QUALCARE WORKERS COMP $1,947.00 ↑ +627%
QUALCARE PPO $2,921.00 ↑ +991%
QUALCARE HMO $2,921.00 ↑ +991%
BRIGHTON HEALTH PLAN ALL PRODUCTS $3,062.91 ↑ +1044%
HORIZON OMNIA $3,391.40 ↑ +1166%
HORIZON PIP $3,435.79 ↑ +1183%
HORIZON WORKERS COMP $3,459.76 ↑ +1192%
AETNA ASA $3,475.74 ↑ +1198%
CIGNA BH $3,551.20 ↑ +1226%
HORIZON INDEMNITY $3,730.09 ↑ +1293%
MULTIPLAN - PHCS ALL PRODUCTS $3,773.15 ↑ +1309%
HORIZON SHP $4,141.59 ↑ +1447%
HORIZON HMO $4,181.54 ↑ +1462%
HORIZON PPO $4,288.07 ↑ +1501%
BERGEN RISK ALL PRODUCTS $4,332.00 ↑ +1518%
AMERIGROUP MANAGED MEDICAID not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other New-jersey hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Trinitas Regional Medical Center Elizabeth $535.69 $101.97 – $896.25
Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center Livingston $604.76 $271.19 – $2,072.00
Community Medical Center Toms River $591.91 $264.17 – $2,072.00
Clara Maass Medical Center Belleville $567.66 $271.19 – $2,072.00
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Newark $594.48 $104.97 – $2,072.00
Jersey City Medical Center Jersey City $593.06 $131.96 – $2,010.00
Monmouth Medical Center Long Branch $624.45 $267.55 – $2,072.00
Bayshore Medical Center Holmdel $267.55 $267.55 – $4,332.00

All New-jersey hospitals for this procedure →