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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at UPMC Jameson

1211 Wilmington Avenue, New Castle, PA · UPMC · · NPI 111471575

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Mar 6, 2026 · Ingested Aug 13, 2026

$750.00

Cash price

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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.

$1,250.00

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$101.31 with United Healthcare Community Plan for Families vs $1,100.00 with National Provider Network — 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 →

Payer
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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
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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 CHIP/PA Medicaid $101.31 ↓ -86%
Aetna of PA Medicare $101.38 ↓ -86%
Humana Medicare $101.38 ↓ -86%
United Healthcare Medicare $101.38 ↓ -86%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicare $105.66 ↓ -86%
UPMC Health Plan EPO Partners/Partners/Select $105.86 ↓ -86%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $109.48 ↓ -85%
AmeriHealth Caritas Medicare $109.49 ↓ -85%
Cigna Medicare $109.49 ↓ -85%
PA Health & Wellness Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) $109.49 ↓ -85%
Occunet Commercial $126.72 ↓ -83%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $152.45 ↓ -80%
Aetna Medicaid $156.61 ↓ -79%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $180.18 ↓ -76%
Geisinger Medicaid/CHIP $192.63 ↓ -74%
PA Health & Wellness PA Medicaid HMO $236.19 ↓ -69%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $328.70 ↓ -56%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $634.46 ↓ -15%
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $650.82 ↓ -13%
Cigna Commercial $670.35 ↓ -11%
United Healthcare Commercial $763.00 ↑ +2%
Multiplan PPO (inc. Auto and Worker's Compensation) $937.50 ↑ +25%
Humana Commercial $1,000.00 ↑ +33%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $1,029.34 ↑ +37%
National Provider Network PPO $1,100.00 ↑ +47%
US Family Health Plan Tricare Prime not published by hospital
Tricare East Region not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC East Monroeville $1,863.00 $101.65 – $2,484.00
UPMC Passavant-McCandless Pittsburgh $1,795.80 $94.21 – $2,544.05
UPMC Hamot Erie $1,906.80 $115.76 – $2,224.60
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $876.00 $100.71 – $1,241.00
UPMC Altoona Altoona $1,405.80 $88.10 – $1,874.40
UPMC Bedford Everett $847.80 $36.58 – $1,271.70
UPMC Cole Coudersport $771.60 $145.52 – $1,028.80
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $876.00 $103.55 – $1,241.00

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →