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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at UPMC Cole
1001 East Second Street, Coudersport, PA · UPMC · · NPI 110485184
$1,907.40
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.
$3,179.00
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.
$355.95 with Aetna vs $3,794.78 with UPMC 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $355.95 | ↓ -81% |
| BCBS of Western NY | Medicare Advantage | $377.52 | ↓ -80% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $471.18 | ↓ -75% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $511.21 | ↓ -73% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $577.72 | ↓ -70% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $667.91 | ↓ -65% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $881.22 | ↓ -54% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $890.12 | ↓ -53% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $890.12 | ↓ -53% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $890.12 | ↓ -53% |
| Humana | Medicare | $899.02 | ↓ -53% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC) | $912.37 | ↓ -52% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicaid | $912.37 | ↓ -52% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $921.91 | ↓ -52% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $934.63 | ↓ -51% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP | $961.33 | ↓ -50% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $961.33 | ↓ -50% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $969.60 | ↓ -49% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,211.85 | ↓ -36% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,211.85 | ↓ -36% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $1,271.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $1,475.67 | ↓ -23% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,475.67 | ↓ -23% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $1,977.00 | ↑ +4% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $2,225.30 | ↑ +17% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $2,380.18 | ↑ +25% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $2,384.25 | ↑ +25% |
| Galaxy Health Plan | Commercial | $2,543.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Humana | Commercial | $2,543.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | $2,543.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | PPO/Auto | $2,543.20 | ↑ +33% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $2,543.20 | ↑ +33% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $3,794.78 | ↑ +99% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $5,999.40 | $316.41 – $8,499.15 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $6,218.40 | $341.40 – $8,291.20 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $2,536.20 | $281.64 – $2,958.90 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $2,713.80 | $338.22 – $3,844.55 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $2,884.20 | $122.85 – $4,326.30 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $2,604.00 | $269.00 – $3,472.00 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $2,713.80 | $347.79 – $3,844.55 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | $2,713.80 | $337.76 – $3,935.01 |