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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at Atrium Health Lincoln
433 McAlister Rd, Lincolnton, NC · Atrium Health · · NPI 1730055054
$1,504.05
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.
$3,008.10
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.
$43.99 with Cigna Healthspring vs $2,857.70 with Multiplan — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigna Healthspring | Medicare Advantage | $43.99 | ↓ -97% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $44.87 | ↓ -97% |
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $45.53 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $45.66 | ↓ -97% |
| Trillium | Managed Medicaid | $48.07 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | Managed Medicaid | $48.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellcare | Managed Medicaid | $48.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Partners | Managed Medicaid | $48.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Healthy Blue | Managed Medicaid | $48.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Vaya | Managed Medicaid | $48.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Amerihealth Caritas | Managed Medicaid | $48.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Carolina Complete Health | Managed Medicaid | $48.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Alliance | Managed Medicaid | $49.03 | ↓ -97% |
| OrthoCarolina | Commercial | $54.99 | ↓ -96% |
| Alliance | Behavioral Health | $342.62 | ↓ -77% |
| Aetna | Connected North Carolina Individual HMO | $797.15 | ↓ -47% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina | Local Group Commercial | $862.42 | ↓ -43% |
| Aetna | North Carolina Preferred Plus | $906.00 | ↓ -40% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina | Local Individual Commercial | $909.05 | ↓ -40% |
| Ambetter | CoBranded Commercial | $983.95 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | Broad Network | $1,020.00 | ↓ -32% |
| Ambetter | Individual Commercial | $1,119.01 | ↓ -26% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina | HMO-PPO Managed Care | $1,134.96 | ↓ -25% |
| United Healthcare | IEX Commercial | $1,209.26 | ↓ -20% |
| Aetna | Whole Health HMO | $1,227.30 | ↓ -18% |
| Cigna | Commercial NB | $1,302.51 | ↓ -13% |
| Employers Health Network | Commercial | $1,329.58 | ↓ -12% |
| MedCost | Ultra | $1,416.82 | ↓ -6% |
| Physician Reach Out | Plan P | $1,504.05 | ↑ +0% |
| Cigna | HMO-PPO Managed Care | $1,612.34 | ↑ +7% |
| United Healthcare | HMO-PPO Managed Care | $1,714.62 | ↑ +14% |
| Quik Trip | Commercial | $1,955.27 | ↑ +30% |
| GMMI | Commercial | $1,955.27 | ↑ +30% |
| MedCost | PPO | $1,967.30 | ↑ +31% |
| Cigna | Commercial SAR | $2,030.47 | ↑ +35% |
| ChoiceCare | Commercial | $2,466.64 | ↑ +64% |
| First Health | Commercial | $2,556.89 | ↑ +70% |
| Aetna First Health | Commercial | $2,556.89 | ↑ +70% |
| Beechstreet | Commercial | $2,707.29 | ↑ +80% |
| Private Health Care Systems | Commercial | $2,707.29 | ↑ +80% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $2,857.70 | ↑ +90% |
| Broughton Cardinal Partners | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
| Physician Reach Out | Plan H | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at other North-carolina hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atrium Health Anson | Wadesboro | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,857.70 |
| Atrium Health Behavioral Health Charlotte | Charlotte | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,647.13 |
| Atrium Health Cleveland | Shelby | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,857.70 |
| Atrium Health Cabarrus | Concord | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,857.70 |
| Atrium Health Mercy | Charlotte | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,767.45 |
| Atrium Health Pineville | Charlotte | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,767.45 |
| Atrium Health Stanly | Albermarle | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,887.78 |
| Atrium Health Union | Monroe | $1,504.05 | $43.99 – $2,857.70 |