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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
3500 Gaston Ave., Dallas, TX · Baylor Scott & White Health · · NPI 1447250253
$2,190.02
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.
$3,650.03
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 WellPoint (fka Amerigroup) vs $2,737.52 with Private Health Care System — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WellPoint (fka Amerigroup) | CHIP/Medicaid | $197.14 | ↓ -91% |
| Superior Health Plan | Medicaid | $197.14 | ↓ -91% |
| United Healthcare | Medicaid/CHIP | $210.94 | ↓ -90% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | Medicare Advantage | $227.71 | ↓ -90% |
| CORVEL | Worker's Compensation | $232.50 | ↓ -89% |
| Humana | Medicare | $239.69 | ↓ -89% |
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $239.69 | ↓ -89% |
| TriWest | Community Care Network | $239.69 | ↓ -89% |
| WellPoint (fka Amerigroup) | Medicare | $246.88 | ↓ -89% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $251.67 | ↓ -89% |
| ProCare Advantage | Medicare Advantage | $251.67 | ↓ -89% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $251.67 | ↓ -89% |
| HealthSpring | Medicare Advantage | $251.67 | ↓ -89% |
| American Health Plan | Medicare Advantage | $251.67 | ↓ -89% |
| Superior Health Plan | Medicare | $251.67 | ↓ -89% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $268.45 | ↓ -88% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Premier - Small Group | $287.63 | ↓ -87% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Premier - Individual | $300.81 | ↓ -86% |
| Prime Health Services | Worker's Compensation | $302.25 | ↓ -86% |
| Sedgwick | Preferred Network | $358.34 | ↓ -84% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Plus - Small Group | $395.49 | ↓ -82% |
| Superior Ambetter | Ambetter Exchange | $515.33 | ↓ -76% |
| Mark Cuban | Commercial | $607.02 | ↓ -72% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Blue Advantage | $762.04 | ↓ -65% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Blue Premier/High Performance Network/My BlueHealth | $1,081.31 | ↓ -51% |
| Texas Workforce Commission | Workers Compensation | $1,314.01 | ↓ -40% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | City of Dallas | $1,451.84 | ↓ -34% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Blue Essentials (HMO) | $1,531.07 | ↓ -30% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | BlueChoice (PPO) | $1,612.64 | ↓ -26% |
| Employers Health Network | BSWQA Direct/EHN Rental | $1,715.51 | ↓ -22% |
| Imagine Health | Commercial | $1,718.00 | ↓ -22% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Premier - Large Group/BSW Premier Direct to Employer (Rate 1)/BSWH Employee | $1,818.14 | ↓ -17% |
| Cigna | Local Plus | $1,952.00 | ↓ -11% |
| Employers Health Network | EHN Network | $2,007.52 | ↓ -8% |
| QuikTrip | Employee Benefit Plan | $2,007.52 | ↓ -8% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $2,007.52 | ↓ -8% |
| Baylor Scott & White Health Plan | BSW Plus - Large Group/BSW Premier Direct to Employer (Rate 2) | $2,138.99 | ↓ -2% |
| University of Mary Hardin-Baylor | Commercial | $2,149.00 | ↓ -2% |
| Cigna | HMO/PPO | $2,297.00 | ↑ +5% |
| Curative | Commercial | $2,372.52 | ↑ +8% |
| United Healthcare | Charter | $2,429.00 | ↑ +11% |
| United Healthcare | Nexus | $2,429.00 | ↑ +11% |
| Humana | Commercial PPO | $2,555.02 | ↑ +17% |
| HealthSmart | Accel Network | $2,555.02 | ↑ +17% |
| Optum | Commercial | $2,555.02 | ↑ +17% |
| First Health | PPO | $2,555.02 | ↑ +17% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial Broad | $2,699.00 | ↑ +23% |
| HealthSmart | Preferred Network | $2,737.52 | ↑ +25% |
| Private Health Care System | PHCS Network | $2,737.52 | ↑ +25% |
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 - 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 MEDICAL CENTER - COLLEGE STATION | College Station | $2,288.05 | $210.94 – $3,432.08 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE CONTINUING CARE HOSPITAL | Temple | $2,288.05 | $197.14 – $3,432.08 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - GRAPEVINE | Grapevine | $2,190.02 | $197.14 – $2,737.52 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE ALL SAINTS MEDICAL CENTER - FORT WORTH | Fort Worth | $2,190.02 | $197.14 – $2,737.52 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER HILLCREST | Waco | $2,288.05 | $197.14 – $2,860.07 |