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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at Sanford Medical Center Hillsboro
12 3rd St SE, Hillsboro, ND · Sanford Health · · NPI 1184725194
$3,924.00
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.
$4,905.00
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.
$607.75 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $4,555.27 with Sanford Health Plan — 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 | $607.75 | ↓ -85% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial | $1,215.50 | ↓ -69% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $2,236.68 | ↓ -43% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $2,403.45 | ↓ -39% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $2,423.07 | ↓ -38% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Medicare Replacement | $2,423.07 | ↓ -38% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $2,423.07 | ↓ -38% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $2,423.07 | ↓ -38% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $2,423.07 | ↓ -38% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $2,472.12 | ↓ -37% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,697.75 | ↓ -31% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Commercial | $3,184.33 | ↓ -19% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $3,825.90 | ↓ -3% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $3,872.01 | ↓ -1% |
| Medica | Choice | $4,046.63 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $4,095.68 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $4,262.45 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $4,309.53 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Elect | $4,326.21 | ↑ +10% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $4,414.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $4,414.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $4,414.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers/Group Health/True/SD Exchange Commercial | $4,555.27 | ↑ +16% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at other North-dakota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Medical Center Bismarck | Bismarck | $3,861.60 | $327.88 – $4,344.30 |
| Sanford Fargo Medical Center | Fargo | $4,228.00 | $280.20 – $4,756.50 |
| Sanford Medical Center Mayville | Mayville | $3,924.00 | $607.75 – $4,414.50 |