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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center
2905 3rd Ave SE, Aberdeen, SD · Sanford Health · · NPI 1235406455
$3,253.60
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.
$4,067.00
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.
$229.63 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $3,737.57 with Medica — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $229.63 | ↓ -93% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $246.55 | ↓ -92% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -92% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -92% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -92% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -92% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $248.97 | ↓ -92% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $253.81 | ↓ -92% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $1,803.71 | ↓ -45% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $2,056.68 | ↓ -37% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $2,121.75 | ↓ -35% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,236.85 | ↓ -31% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $2,253.12 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial | $2,419.46 | ↓ -26% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $2,562.21 | ↓ -21% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $3,176.33 | ↓ -2% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $3,334.94 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $3,395.95 | ↑ +4% |
| Medica | Choice | $3,493.55 | ↑ +7% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $3,660.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $3,660.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $3,660.30 | ↑ +13% |
| Medica | Elect | $3,737.57 | ↑ +15% |
| Wellmark | HMO | not published by hospital | — |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other South-dakota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Clear Lake Medical Center | Clear Lake | $3,128.80 | $1,156.10 – $3,519.90 |
| Sanford USD Medical Center | Sioux Falls | $3,555.20 | $108.61 – $3,999.60 |
| Sanford Hospital Webster | Webster | $3,180.80 | $1,248.46 – $3,578.40 |
| Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center | Chamberlain | $3,198.40 | $1,367.32 – $3,598.20 |
| Sanford Canton Inwood Medical Center | Canton | $2,980.80 | $1,274.29 – $3,353.40 |
| Sanford Vermillion Hospital | Vermillion | $3,374.40 | $1,244.31 – $3,796.20 |