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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BRENHAM
700 Medical Parkway, Brenham, TX · Baylor Scott & White Health · · NPI 1154315307
$3,200.98
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.
$5,334.96
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.
$494.01 with United Healthcare vs $4,801.46 with BlueBell Creameries — 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 | Medicaid/CHIP | $494.01 | ↓ -85% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | Medicare Advantage | $658.87 | ↓ -79% |
| TriWest | Community Care Network | $693.54 | ↓ -78% |
| American Health Plan | Medicare Advantage | $693.54 | ↓ -78% |
| CORVEL | Worker's Compensation | $726.62 | ↓ -77% |
| Prime Health Services | Worker's Compensation | $726.62 | ↓ -77% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $728.22 | ↓ -77% |
| ProCare Advantage | Medicare Advantage | $728.22 | ↓ -77% |
| HealthSpring | Medicare Advantage | $728.22 | ↓ -77% |
| Superior Health Plan | Medicare HMO/Medicare PPO | $728.22 | ↓ -77% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $776.77 | ↓ -76% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Premier - Small Group | $832.25 | ↓ -74% |
| Sedgwick | Preferred Network | $861.60 | ↓ -73% |
| CareWorks fka Rockport | Worker's Compensation | $861.60 | ↓ -73% |
| Injury Management Organization | Med Select Network | $861.60 | ↓ -73% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Premier - Individual | $870.67 | ↓ -73% |
| Mark Cuban | Commercial | $952.69 | ↓ -70% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Plus - Small Group | $1,248.38 | ↓ -61% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Blue Premier/High Performance Network/My BlueHealth | $1,596.13 | ↓ -50% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Blue Advantage | $1,615.23 | ↓ -50% |
| Cigna | Local Plus | $1,711.00 | ↓ -47% |
| Imagine Health | Commercial | $1,718.00 | ↓ -46% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Premier - Large Group/BSW Premier Direct to Employer (Rate 1)/BSWH Employee | $1,731.24 | ↓ -46% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Blue Essentials (HMO) | $1,848.15 | ↓ -42% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | BlueChoice (PPO) | $1,947.43 | ↓ -39% |
| Cigna | HMO/PPO | $2,013.00 | ↓ -37% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Plus - Large Group/BSW Premier Direct to Employer (Rate 2) | $2,036.75 | ↓ -36% |
| University of Mary Hardin-Baylor | Commercial | $2,149.00 | ↓ -33% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $2,472.00 | ↓ -23% |
| QuikTrip | Employee Benefit Plan | $2,934.23 | ↓ -8% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $2,934.23 | ↓ -8% |
| MidCoast | Commercial | $2,934.23 | ↓ -8% |
| Independent Medical System | Commercial PPO | $3,200.98 | ↑ +0% |
| Curative | Commercial | $3,467.72 | ↑ +8% |
| Humana | Commercial PPO | $3,734.47 | ↑ +17% |
| HealthSmart | Accel Network | $3,734.47 | ↑ +17% |
| First Health | PPO | $3,734.47 | ↑ +17% |
| HealthSmart | Preferred Network | $4,001.22 | ↑ +25% |
| Private Health Care System | PHCS Network | $4,001.22 | ↑ +25% |
| Humana | Commercial HMO | $4,267.97 | ↑ +33% |
| BlueBell Creameries | Self Insured | $4,801.46 | ↑ +50% |
| Humana Military | TRICARE | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with and without contrast) at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $3,196.33 | $329.13 – $3,995.41 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BUDA | Suite 110 | $3,167.94 | $329.13 – $3,959.93 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - CENTENNIAL | Frisco | $3,196.33 | $329.13 – $3,995.41 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - COLLEGE STATION | College Station | $3,200.98 | $332.94 – $4,801.46 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE CONTINUING CARE HOSPITAL | Temple | $3,200.98 | $329.13 – $4,801.46 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - GRAPEVINE | Grapevine | $3,196.33 | $329.13 – $3,995.41 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE ALL SAINTS MEDICAL CENTER - FORT WORTH | Fort Worth | $3,196.33 | $329.13 – $3,995.41 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER HILLCREST | Waco | $3,200.98 | $329.13 – $4,001.22 |