Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital
252 S. 4th St., Lebanon, PA · Wellspan · · NPI 1407928500
$635.50
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,350.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$352.78 with Blue_Cross_BlueJourney_Medicare vs $2,611.31 with Blue_Cross — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue_Cross_BlueJourney_Medicare | All_Plans | $352.78 | ↓ -44% |
| Highmark_Medicare | All_Plans | $356.31 | ↓ -44% |
| Aetna_Medicare | All_Plans | $363.36 | ↓ -43% |
| Aetna_Advantra_Medicare | All_Plans | $363.36 | ↓ -43% |
| Devoted_Medicare | All_Plans | $370.42 | ↓ -42% |
| United_Medicare | ISNP_DSNP_Plans | $370.42 | ↓ -42% |
| Geisinger_Gold_Medicare | All_Plans | $370.42 | ↓ -42% |
| Highmark_Wholecare_Gateway_Medicare | All_Plans | $372.01 | ↓ -41% |
| UPMC_Medicare | UPMC_for_Life_Complete_Care | $372.18 | ↓ -41% |
| Amerihealth_Medicare | All_Plans | $372.18 | ↓ -41% |
| UPMC_Medicare | UPMC_for_Life_Community_HealthChoices | $372.18 | ↓ -41% |
| Jefferson_Health_Medicare_Advantage | All_Plans | $381.00 | ↓ -40% |
| PA_Health_&_Wellness_Medicare | All_Plans | $381.00 | ↓ -40% |
| Blue_Cross | Capital_Blue_Performance_PPO | $398.43 | ↓ -37% |
| UPMC_Medicaid | All_Plans | $423.75 | ↓ -33% |
| PA_Health_&_Wellness_Medicaid | All_Plans | $423.75 | ↓ -33% |
| Health_Partners_Medicaid | All_Other_Plans | $423.75 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark_Wholecare_Gateway_Medicaid | All_Plans | $423.75 | ↓ -33% |
| Geisinger_Medicaid | All_Plans | $423.75 | ↓ -33% |
| Amerihealth_Caritas_Medicaid | All_Plans | $481.38 | ↓ -24% |
| Highmark | Higmark_Healthy_Kids | $546.81 | ↓ -14% |
| Health_Partners_Medicaid | Kidz_Partners | $582.09 | ↓ -8% |
| United_Medicaid | Community_Plan_For_Kids | $617.37 | ↓ -3% |
| WellSpan_Capital_Blue_Cross | All_Plans | $651.00 | ↑ +2% |
| Highmark | Blue_Cross_High_Performance_Network | $1,067.05 | ↑ +68% |
| Highmark | Choice_Blue_PPO | $1,067.05 | ↑ +68% |
| Highmark | Performance_Blue | $1,067.05 | ↑ +68% |
| Aetna_Better_Health_Kids | All_Plans | $1,152.60 | ↑ +81% |
| Cigna | All_Plans | $1,222.94 | ↑ +92% |
| Highmark | All_Other_Plans | $1,285.64 | ↑ +102% |
| UPMC | UPMC_For_Kids | $1,410.00 | ↑ +122% |
| UPMC | Employees_And_Dependents | $1,410.00 | ↑ +122% |
| Geisinger | All_Plans | $1,410.00 | ↑ +122% |
| Aetna | All_Plans | $1,477.00 | ↑ +132% |
| First_Health_Network | All_Plans | $1,624.00 | ↑ +156% |
| Blue_Cross | Capital_Cares_4_kids | $1,827.92 | ↑ +188% |
| PHC | All_Plans | $1,880.00 | ↑ +196% |
| Blue_Cross | Capital_Blue_Cross_Healthy_Benefits_PPO | $2,089.05 | ↑ +229% |
| United_Healthcare | All_Plans | $2,106.92 | ↑ +232% |
| Blue_Cross | All_Other_Plans | $2,611.31 | ↑ +311% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $1,810.80 | $269.00 – $2,414.40 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $4,017.60 | $122.85 – $6,026.40 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $2,713.80 | $338.22 – $3,844.55 |
| UPMC Cole | Coudersport | $1,237.80 | $320.31 – $1,650.40 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $2,713.80 | $347.79 – $3,844.55 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $5,074.20 | $341.40 – $6,765.60 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $1,546.80 | $220.65 – $1,479.38 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $2,449.80 | $308.78 – $1,371.07 |