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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with and without contrast) at UPMC Cole
1001 East Second Street, Coudersport, PA · UPMC · · NPI 110485184
$1,130.40
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.
$1,884.00
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.
$204.80 with Aetna vs $1,507.20 with InterGroup — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $204.80 | ↓ -82% |
| BCBS of Western NY | Medicare Advantage | $228.54 | ↓ -80% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $271.10 | ↓ -76% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $294.14 | ↓ -74% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $332.40 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $410.87 | ↓ -64% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $522.24 | ↓ -54% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $527.52 | ↓ -53% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $527.52 | ↓ -53% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $527.52 | ↓ -53% |
| Humana | Medicare | $532.80 | ↓ -53% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC) | $540.71 | ↓ -52% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicaid | $540.71 | ↓ -52% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $546.36 | ↓ -52% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $553.90 | ↓ -51% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP | $569.72 | ↓ -50% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $569.72 | ↓ -50% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $574.62 | ↓ -49% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $753.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $782.78 | ↓ -31% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $782.78 | ↓ -31% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $899.77 | ↓ -20% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $953.19 | ↓ -16% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $953.19 | ↓ -16% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $1,279.00 | ↑ +13% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $1,318.80 | ↑ +17% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $1,413.00 | ↑ +25% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,441.89 | ↑ +28% |
| Galaxy Health Plan | Commercial | $1,507.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Humana | Commercial | $1,507.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | $1,507.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | PPO/Auto | $1,507.20 | ↑ +33% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $1,507.20 | ↑ +33% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with and without contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $3,242.40 | $170.18 – $4,323.20 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $2,785.80 | $157.72 – $3,946.55 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $2,637.60 | $145.67 – $3,077.20 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $1,424.40 | $168.60 – $2,017.90 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $1,699.20 | $136.00 – $2,265.60 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $1,424.40 | $173.36 – $2,017.90 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | $1,424.40 | $168.36 – $2,065.38 |
| UPMC Jameson | New Castle | $1,124.40 | $156.40 – $1,649.12 |