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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at UPMC Cole
1001 East Second Street, Coudersport, PA · UPMC · · NPI 110485184
$771.60
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.
$1,286.00
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.
$145.52 with Aetna vs $1,279.00 with United Healthcare — 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 | $145.52 | ↓ -81% |
| BCBS of Western NY | Medicare Advantage | $148.34 | ↓ -81% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $192.63 | ↓ -75% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $208.99 | ↓ -73% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $236.19 | ↓ -69% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $271.12 | ↓ -65% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $356.48 | ↓ -54% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $360.08 | ↓ -53% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $360.08 | ↓ -53% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $360.08 | ↓ -53% |
| Humana | Medicare | $363.68 | ↓ -53% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC) | $369.08 | ↓ -52% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicaid | $369.08 | ↓ -52% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $372.94 | ↓ -52% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $378.08 | ↓ -51% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP | $388.89 | ↓ -50% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $388.89 | ↓ -50% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $392.23 | ↓ -49% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $466.78 | ↓ -40% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $466.78 | ↓ -40% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $514.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $568.40 | ↓ -26% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $568.40 | ↓ -26% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $641.23 | ↓ -17% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $900.20 | ↑ +17% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $964.50 | ↑ +25% |
| Galaxy Health Plan | Commercial | $1,028.80 | ↑ +33% |
| Humana | Commercial | $1,028.80 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | $1,028.80 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | PPO/Auto | $1,028.80 | ↑ +33% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $1,028.80 | ↑ +33% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,029.34 | ↑ +33% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $1,279.00 | ↑ +66% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $1,863.00 | $101.65 – $2,484.00 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $1,795.80 | $94.21 – $2,544.05 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $1,906.80 | $115.76 – $2,224.60 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $876.00 | $100.71 – $1,241.00 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $1,405.80 | $88.10 – $1,874.40 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $847.80 | $36.58 – $1,271.70 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $876.00 | $103.55 – $1,241.00 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | $876.00 | $100.57 – $1,270.20 |