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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at UPMC Hamot
201 State Street, Erie, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1487647590
$2,052.60
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.
$3,421.00
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.
$140.66 with BCBS of Western NY vs $2,736.80 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCBS of Western NY | Commercial | $140.66 | ↓ -93% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $165.60 | ↓ -92% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $173.13 | ↓ -92% |
| Aetna | Medicaid | $180.66 | ↓ -91% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $209.25 | ↓ -90% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $223.27 | ↓ -89% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $227.03 | ↓ -89% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $235.02 | ↓ -89% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $256.57 | ↓ -88% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $375.61 | ↓ -82% |
| Fidelis | Medicare | $392.96 | ↓ -81% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $400.82 | ↓ -80% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Partners/Select | $401.13 | ↓ -80% |
| Wellcare | Medicare Advantage | $404.75 | ↓ -80% |
| BCBS of Western NY | Medicare Advantage | $412.61 | ↓ -80% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $420.47 | ↓ -80% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $424.36 | ↓ -79% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $424.40 | ↓ -79% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $424.40 | ↓ -79% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $424.40 | ↓ -79% |
| Univera | Univera_Medicare_Hamot_2024 | $513.15 | ↓ -75% |
| Independent Health | Medicare Advantage | $566.90 | ↓ -72% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $596.92 | ↓ -71% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $693.00 | ↓ -66% |
| Independent Health | Commercial | $755.01 | ↓ -63% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $814.85 | ↓ -60% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $855.25 | ↓ -58% |
| Cigna | NBR ASO/FI | $1,026.30 | ↓ -50% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $1,026.30 | ↓ -50% |
| Univera | Commercial | $1,128.93 | ↓ -45% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity/Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity/Managed Care/Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,134.99 | ↓ -45% |
| Cigna | EBR | $1,368.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,368.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $1,815.96 | ↓ -12% |
| InterGroup | Health Coalition Partners/PPO | $2,223.65 | ↑ +8% |
| Aetna | AXA/MMO | $2,394.70 | ↑ +17% |
| Multiplan | PPO (Includes PHCS as a Payer) | $2,394.70 | ↑ +17% |
| Multiplan | Complimentary Network Rate (Includes Multiplan as Payer) | $2,736.80 | ↑ +33% |
| InterGroup | Beech Street | $2,736.80 | ↑ +33% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $2,917.20 | $165.60 – $3,889.60 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $2,654.40 | $165.60 – $3,760.40 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $1,424.40 | $123.14 – $2,017.90 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $1,405.80 | $94.00 – $1,874.40 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $957.60 | $122.85 – $1,436.40 |
| UPMC Cole | Coudersport | $961.20 | $158.08 – $1,281.60 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $1,424.40 | $123.14 – $2,017.90 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | $1,424.40 | $123.14 – $2,065.38 |