Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at St. Joseph Health College Station Hospital
1604 Rock Prairie Road, College Station, TX · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1942294939
$827.75
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.
$4,730.00
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.
$197.14 with SUPERIOR vs $4,730.00 with BCBS-TX — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUPERIOR | Medicaid|CHIP | $197.14 | ↓ -76% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $201.08 | ↓ -76% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $201.08 | ↓ -76% |
| SUPERIOR | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $207.00 | ↓ -75% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $207.00 | ↓ -75% |
| BCBS | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $207.00 | ↓ -75% |
| KELSEY | Medicare|All Plans | $223.18 | ↓ -73% |
| PGT | Medicare|All Plans | $237.27 | ↓ -71% |
| BCBS | Medicare|All Plans | $242.11 | ↓ -71% |
| AETNA | Medicare|All Plans | $242.11 | ↓ -71% |
| UNITED | Medicare|All Plans | $246.95 | ↓ -70% |
| AMERIVANTAGE | Medicare|All Plans | $249.37 | ↓ -70% |
| SCANHealth | Medicare|All Plans | $259.06 | ↓ -69% |
| ACH | Commercial|All Plans | $278.43 | ↓ -66% |
| Ambetter | Commercial|All Plans | $351.06 | ↓ -58% |
| Wellpoint | Commercial|Exchange | $363.17 | ↓ -56% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|STAR | $370.62 | ↓ -55% |
| SUPERIOR | Medicaid|STAR | $370.62 | ↓ -55% |
| Bright Health | Commercial|All Plans | $412.00 | ↓ -50% |
| Entrust | Commercial|All Plans | $433.76 | ↓ -48% |
| SUPERIOR | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $435.68 | ↓ -47% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $443.56 | ↓ -46% |
| Wellpath | Commercial|All Plans | $514.94 | ↓ -38% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|Blue Advantage HMO | $657.17 | ↓ -21% |
| Ellwood | Commercial|All Plans | $726.33 | ↓ -12% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|Blue Premier | $759.71 | ↓ -8% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|HMO | $762.04 | ↓ -8% |
| NX Health | Commercial|All Plans | $786.86 | ↓ -5% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|PPO | $894.87 | ↑ +8% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Local Plus | $1,169.00 | ↑ +41% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $1,450.00 | ↑ +75% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,596.00 | ↑ +93% |
| United | Commercial|Exchange | $2,011.00 | ↑ +143% |
| Health Smart | Commercial|All Plans | $2,601.50 | ↑ +214% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Plans | $2,648.80 | ↑ +220% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,947.00 | ↑ +377% |
| Multiplan | Commercial|All Plans | $4,020.50 | ↑ +386% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|Ref Lab | $4,730.00 | ↑ +471% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - COLLEGE STATION | College Station | $2,288.05 | $210.94 – $3,432.08 |
| Adventhealth Rollins Brook | Lampasas | $4,346.09 | $1,085.97 – $1,085.97 |
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $2,190.02 | $197.14 – $2,737.52 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BRENHAM | Brenham | $2,288.05 | $314.76 – $3,432.08 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BUDA | Suite 110 | $2,065.69 | $197.14 – $2,582.11 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - CENTENNIAL | Frisco | $2,190.02 | $197.14 – $2,737.52 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE CONTINUING CARE HOSPITAL | Temple | $2,288.05 | $197.14 – $3,432.08 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE EMERGENCY MEDICAL CENTER - CEDAR PARK | Cedar Park | $2,065.69 | $197.14 – $3,098.53 |