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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at Sanford Vermillion Hospital
20 S Plum St, Vermillion, SD · Sanford Health · · NPI 1790721280
$3,169.60
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.
$3,962.00
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.
$1,168.79 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $3,565.80 with Multiplan — 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 | $1,168.79 | ↓ -63% |
| Wellmark SD | Medicare Replacement | $1,204.45 | ↓ -62% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $1,291.61 | ↓ -59% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $1,307.46 | ↓ -59% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $1,307.46 | ↓ -59% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $1,307.46 | ↓ -59% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $1,307.46 | ↓ -59% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $1,331.23 | ↓ -58% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $1,568.56 | ↓ -51% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $1,788.45 | ↓ -44% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $1,845.50 | ↓ -42% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $2,104.22 | ↓ -34% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,179.10 | ↓ -31% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $2,614.92 | ↓ -18% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $2,971.50 | ↓ -6% |
| Medica | Choice | $3,268.65 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial +20 | $3,308.27 | ↑ +4% |
| Wellmark | PPO | $3,407.32 | ↑ +8% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $3,442.98 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $3,481.01 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Elect | $3,494.48 | ↑ +10% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $3,565.80 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $3,565.80 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $3,565.80 | ↑ +13% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other South-dakota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Clear Lake Medical Center | Clear Lake | $3,362.40 | $1,215.50 – $3,782.70 |
| Sanford USD Medical Center | Sioux Falls | $3,289.60 | $170.46 – $3,700.80 |
| Sanford Hospital Webster | Webster | $3,616.00 | $1,419.28 – $4,068.00 |
| Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center | Chamberlain | $3,285.60 | $1,404.59 – $3,696.30 |
| Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center | Aberdeen | $3,348.00 | $339.27 – $3,766.50 |