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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) X-ray at UPMC Somerset
225 South Center Avenue, Somerset, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1912900168
$272.40
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.
$454.00
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.
$25.88 with United Healthcare Community Plan for Families vs $328.50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA Medicaid | $25.88 | ↓ -90% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $35.78 | ↓ -87% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $37.34 | ↓ -86% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $41.74 | ↓ -85% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Medicare Advantage | $42.26 | ↓ -84% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $45.21 | ↓ -83% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $85.30 | ↓ -69% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $92.92 | ↓ -66% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $100.37 | ↓ -63% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $101.38 | ↓ -63% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $101.38 | ↓ -63% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $101.38 | ↓ -63% |
| UPMC Health Plan | EPO Partners/EPO Select Plan/HMO | $103.41 | ↓ -62% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $109.48 | ↓ -60% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $123.54 | ↓ -55% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity/Managed Care - Social Mission | $150.36 | ↓ -45% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $172.48 | ↓ -37% |
| Aetna of PA | TPA/Carrier | $175.20 | ↓ -36% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $188.78 | ↓ -31% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity/Managed Care | $190.31 | ↓ -30% |
| Multiplan | PPO (Includes PHCS as a Payer) | $219.00 | ↓ -20% |
| Galaxy Health Plan | Commercial | $284.70 | ↑ +5% |
| Humana | Commercial | $328.50 | ↑ +21% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) X-ray at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $436.20 | $33.98 – $581.60 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $419.40 | $34.28 – $594.15 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $438.00 | $25.96 – $511.00 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $262.80 | $29.48 – $372.30 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $208.80 | $22.50 – $278.40 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $115.80 | $34.16 – $173.70 |
| UPMC Cole | Coudersport | $171.00 | $34.16 – $228.00 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $272.40 | $29.48 – $372.30 |