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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at Sanford Fargo Medical Center
5225 23rd Ave S, Fargo, ND · Sanford Health · · NPI 1528009412
$3,445.60
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.
$4,307.00
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.
$178.53 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $3,876.30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $178.53 | ↓ -95% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $196.40 | ↓ -94% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $196.40 | ↓ -94% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $196.40 | ↓ -94% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $196.40 | ↓ -94% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $229.63 | ↓ -93% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $246.55 | ↓ -93% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -93% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -93% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -93% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -93% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -93% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -93% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $253.81 | ↓ -93% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $256.82 | ↓ -93% |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | $256.82 | ↓ -93% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial | $432.69 | ↓ -87% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $1,765.87 | ↓ -49% |
| Medica | Choice | $1,938.15 | ↓ -44% |
| Medica | Elect | $2,071.67 | ↓ -40% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,368.85 | ↓ -31% |
| United Healthcare | CSP Top 20 | $2,730.64 | ↓ -21% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $3,027.39 | ↓ -12% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $3,682.49 | ↑ +7% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $3,751.40 | ↑ +9% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $3,876.30 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $3,876.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $3,876.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $3,876.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other North-dakota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Medical Center Hillsboro | Hillsboro | $2,202.40 | $578.05 – $2,477.70 |
| Sanford Medical Center Bismarck | Bismarck | $3,249.60 | $196.40 – $3,655.80 |
| Sanford Medical Center Mayville | Mayville | $2,202.40 | $578.05 – $2,477.70 |