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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at UPMC Williamsport
700 High Street, Williamsport, PA · UPMC · · NPI 164974648
$2,555.40
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.
$4,259.00
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.
$120.32 with United Healthcare Community Plan for Families vs $3,407.20 with InterGroup — 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 | $120.32 | ↓ -95% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $165.60 | ↓ -94% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $165.60 | ↓ -94% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $165.60 | ↓ -94% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $169.75 | ↓ -93% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $211.52 | ↓ -92% |
| PA Health & Wellness | PA Medicaid HMO | $256.57 | ↓ -90% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $343.82 | ↓ -87% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $347.29 | ↓ -86% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $350.69 | ↓ -86% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $350.69 | ↓ -86% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $364.31 | ↓ -86% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $367.68 | ↓ -86% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $367.72 | ↓ -86% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $814.85 | ↓ -68% |
| Three Rivers Provider Network | All | $871.70 | ↓ -66% |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | $900.12 | ↓ -65% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,694.66 | ↓ -34% |
| Aetna | PEBTF Custom Network | $1,727.02 | ↓ -32% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $1,856.92 | ↓ -27% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Bluecare HMO/FPLIC PPO/Traditional Products | $1,995.77 | ↓ -22% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $2,031.54 | ↓ -21% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $2,133.76 | ↓ -16% |
| Wirerope Works | Commercial | $2,368.00 | ↓ -7% |
| Aetna | First Health | $2,810.94 | ↑ +10% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $2,853.53 | ↑ +12% |
| Coventry/First Health | FH-Medical Rental | $2,866.31 | ↑ +12% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $2,913.16 | ↑ +14% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $2,917.41 | ↑ +14% |
| Multiplan | Auto | $3,322.02 | ↑ +30% |
| Multiplan | PPO (Includes PHCS as a Payer) | $3,322.02 | ↑ +30% |
| America's Choice | PPO | $3,407.20 | ↑ +33% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $3,407.20 | ↑ +33% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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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 |