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X-ray thoracolumbar spine including skull cervical & sacral spine 1 view at UPMC Presbyterian
200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 119473412
$1,154.40
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.
$1,924.00
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.
$16.68 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $1,635.40 with Humana — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Medicare Advantage | $16.68 | ↓ -99% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $22.69 | ↓ -98% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $32.54 | ↓ -97% |
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $38.45 | ↓ -97% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $41.35 | ↓ -96% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $43.87 | ↓ -96% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $44.61 | ↓ -96% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $46.05 | ↓ -96% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $46.81 | ↓ -96% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $50.41 | ↓ -96% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $55.38 | ↓ -95% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $56.21 | ↓ -95% |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | $65.36 | ↓ -94% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $78.00 | ↓ -93% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $90.67 | ↓ -92% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $90.67 | ↓ -92% |
| Cigna Lifesource | Medicare Transplant | $90.67 | ↓ -92% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $90.67 | ↓ -92% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $90.67 | ↓ -92% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $92.34 | ↓ -92% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $92.34 | ↓ -92% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $104.46 | ↓ -91% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $110.75 | ↓ -90% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $902.16 | ↓ -22% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $1,250.60 | ↑ +8% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $1,346.80 | ↑ +17% |
| Fidelis | Medicare | $1,443.00 | ↑ +25% |
| InterGroup | InterGroup Services Corporation | $1,443.00 | ↑ +25% |
| Health Coalition Partners | Intergroup | $1,539.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $1,539.20 | ↑ +33% |
| SelectCare | Commercial | $1,539.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | PPO | $1,539.20 | ↑ +33% |
| InterGroup | Approved National Affiliated PPO Business | $1,635.40 | ↑ +42% |
| Health Payors Organization | Commercial | $1,635.40 | ↑ +42% |
| Humana | Commercial | $1,635.40 | ↑ +42% |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
X-ray thoracolumbar spine including skull cervical & sacral spine 1 view at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $666.60 | $16.68 – $944.35 |
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | $765.60 | $16.52 – $1,148.40 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $682.20 | $16.68 – $966.45 |
| UPMC Muncy | Muncy | $396.00 | $24.20 – $528.00 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $453.00 | $32.54 – $641.75 |
| UPMC Somerset | Somerset | $188.40 | $16.36 – $235.50 |
| UPMC Wellsboro | Wellsboro | $479.20 | $24.20 – $539.10 |
| UPMC Williamsport | Williamsport | $396.00 | $24.20 – $528.00 |