Brain MRI (without contrast) at CHI Memorial Hospital Chattanooga
2525 de Sales Avenue, Chattanooga, TN · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1255428736
$2,339.19
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.
$5,530.00
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.
$186.96 with United vs $3,318.00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United | Medicaid|TennCare | $186.96 | ↓ -92% |
| BCBS - ND | Medicare|All Plans | $225.19 | ↓ -90% |
| Cigna | Medicare|Healthspring | $227.36 | ↓ -90% |
| Humana | Medicare|HMO | $229.52 | ↓ -90% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $231.69 | ↓ -90% |
| Humana | Medicare|PPO | $238.18 | ↓ -90% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Other Plans | $238.18 | ↓ -90% |
| Employers Health Network | Commercial|All Plans | $311.10 | ↓ -87% |
| BCBS - TN | Commercial|Network S | $329.30 | ↓ -86% |
| Centene | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $407.08 | ↓ -83% |
| BCBS - TN | Commercial|Network P | $415.87 | ↓ -82% |
| BCBS - TN | Medicaid|BlueCare | $472.36 | ↓ -80% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options | $524.34 | ↓ -78% |
| United | Commercial|Options | $524.34 | ↓ -78% |
| Cigna | Commercial|LocalPlus | $561.00 | ↓ -76% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Open Access | $561.00 | ↓ -76% |
| Peach State | Medicaid|All Plans | $580.65 | ↓ -75% |
| Alliant Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1,787.00 | ↓ -24% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Non-Gatekeeper | $1,935.50 | ↓ -17% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Gatekeeper | $1,935.50 | ↓ -17% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $2,422.00 | ↑ +4% |
| Health One Alliance | Commercial|All Plans | $2,459.00 | ↑ +5% |
| Multiplan | Commercial|All Plans | $3,318.00 | ↑ +42% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRI (without contrast) at other Tennessee hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown | Nashville | $1,146.95 | $182.43 – $582.81 |
| CHI Memorial Hospital Hixson | Hixson | $1,636.88 | $186.96 – $3,318.00 |
| Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb | Smithville | $1,146.95 | $167.52 – $582.81 |
| Ascension Saint Thomas Highlands | Sparta | $1,146.95 | $167.52 – $582.81 |
| Ascension Saint Thomas River Park | McMinnville | $1,146.95 | $167.52 – $603.02 |
| Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford | Murfreesboro | $1,146.95 | $182.43 – $602.90 |
| Ascension Saint Thomas Hickman | Centerville | not published | $182.43 – $582.81 |