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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at UPMC Hamot
201 State Street, Erie, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1487647590
$1,623.00
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.
$2,705.00
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.
$183.52 with BCBS of Western NY vs $2,995.03 with Highmark BCBS of PA — 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 | $183.52 | ↓ -89% |
| Fidelis | Medicare | $265.97 | ↓ -84% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $271.29 | ↓ -83% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Partners/Select | $271.50 | ↓ -83% |
| Wellcare | Medicare Advantage | $273.95 | ↓ -83% |
| BCBS of Western NY | Medicare Advantage | $279.27 | ↓ -83% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $281.76 | ↓ -83% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $284.59 | ↓ -82% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $287.22 | ↓ -82% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $287.25 | ↓ -82% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $287.25 | ↓ -82% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $287.25 | ↓ -82% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $294.57 | ↓ -82% |
| Aetna | Medicaid | $307.38 | ↓ -81% |
| Independent Health | Medicare Advantage | $345.98 | ↓ -79% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $356.02 | ↓ -78% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $379.87 | ↓ -77% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $386.27 | ↓ -76% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $399.88 | ↓ -75% |
| Univera | Univera_Medicare_Hamot_2024 | $405.75 | ↓ -75% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $436.53 | ↓ -73% |
| Independent Health | Commercial | $460.77 | ↓ -72% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $619.48 | ↓ -62% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $676.25 | ↓ -58% |
| Cigna | NBR ASO/FI | $811.50 | ↓ -50% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $811.50 | ↓ -50% |
| Univera | Commercial | $892.65 | ↓ -45% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $973.18 | ↓ -40% |
| Cigna | EBR | $1,082.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,082.00 | ↓ -33% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $1,345.46 | ↓ -17% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $1,478.00 | ↓ -9% |
| InterGroup | Health Coalition Partners/PPO | $1,758.25 | ↑ +8% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity/Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity/Managed Care/Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,871.91 | ↑ +15% |
| Aetna | AXA/MMO | $1,893.50 | ↑ +17% |
| Multiplan | PPO (Includes PHCS as a Payer) | $1,893.50 | ↑ +17% |
| Multiplan | Complimentary Network Rate (Includes Multiplan as Payer) | $2,164.00 | ↑ +33% |
| InterGroup | Beech Street | $2,164.00 | ↑ +33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $2,995.03 | ↑ +85% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $3,801.60 | $214.16 – $5,385.60 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $3,940.80 | $231.07 – $5,254.40 |
| UPMC Horizon-Greenville | Greenville | $4,861.20 | $206.32 – $6,886.70 |
| UPMC Jameson | New Castle | $1,519.80 | $197.92 – $2,229.04 |
| UPMC Kane | Kane | $2,338.80 | $93.80 – $1,227.91 |
| UPMC McKeesport | Mckeesport | $3,834.60 | $213.60 – $5,432.35 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $1,656.00 | $228.92 – $2,346.00 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $1,705.20 | $83.15 – $2,557.80 |