Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at UPMC Hanover
300 Highland Avenue, Hanover, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1730158981
$1,424.40
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.
$2,374.00
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.
$123.14 with United Healthcare Community Plan for Families vs $2,349.00 with Aetna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA Medicaid | $123.14 | ↓ -91% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $191.20 | ↓ -87% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $191.20 | ↓ -87% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $195.72 | ↓ -86% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $205.05 | ↓ -86% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $219.29 | ↓ -85% |
| PA Health & Wellness | PA Medicaid HMO | $256.57 | ↓ -82% |
| Premier Comp Solutions | Worker's Comp | $280.00 | ↓ -80% |
| OneCall | Worker's Comp | $290.00 | ↓ -80% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Medicare | $337.76 | ↓ -76% |
| Humana | Medicare | $341.17 | ↓ -76% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $355.84 | ↓ -75% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $358.23 | ↓ -75% |
| Geisinger | Medicare | $358.23 | ↓ -75% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $365.05 | ↓ -74% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $368.46 | ↓ -74% |
| Keystone Health Plan | Medicare Advantage | $451.06 | ↓ -68% |
| Capital Blue Cross | Medicare Advantage | $451.06 | ↓ -68% |
| Keystone Autism Services | ACAP | $545.87 | ↓ -62% |
| Prime Net | Managed Medicare | $574.51 | ↓ -60% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $791.28 | ↓ -44% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Medicaid | $1,131.80 | ↓ -21% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,195.38 | ↓ -16% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial | $1,213.54 | ↓ -15% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $1,554.50 | ↑ +9% |
| Capital Blue Cross | CHIP | $1,613.37 | ↑ +13% |
| Keystone Health Plan | Commercial | $1,613.37 | ↑ +13% |
| Capital Blue Cross | Commercial | $1,613.37 | ↑ +13% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $1,661.80 | ↑ +17% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $1,747.26 | ↑ +23% |
| Aetna | ACO | $1,833.00 | ↑ +29% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $2,006.79 | ↑ +41% |
| Multiplan | PPO (Includes PHCS and Humana as Payers) | $2,017.90 | ↑ +42% |
| CareFirst | Commercial | $2,017.90 | ↑ +42% |
| Wellspan Population Health | Commercial | $2,065.38 | ↑ +45% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $2,349.00 | ↑ +65% |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
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 Hamot | Erie | $2,052.60 | $140.66 – $2,394.70 |
| 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 |