Dextrose 5 % IV bolus at Baylor St Luke's Medical Center
1101 Bates Avenue, Houston, TX · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1184622847
$10.75
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.
$30.70
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.
$1.28 with Aetna vs $5.79 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Commercial|KelseyCare | $1.28 | ↓ -88% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $1.51 | ↓ -86% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $1.51 | ↓ -86% |
| OPTUM | Medicare|All Plans | $1.57 | ↓ -85% |
| United | Commercial|Exchange | $1.63 | ↓ -85% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Transplant | $1.86 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|Charter | $1.92 | ↓ -82% |
| Bright Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1.92 | ↓ -82% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $2.09 | ↓ -81% |
| Cigna | Commercial|HMO | $2.09 | ↓ -81% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Surefit | $2.09 | ↓ -81% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STAR | $2.10 | ↓ -80% |
| United | Commercial|PPO | $2.21 | ↓ -79% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $2.21 | ↓ -79% |
| TCHPCHIP | Medicaid|HMO | $2.38 | ↓ -78% |
| TCH | Commercial|Transplant | $2.61 | ↓ -76% |
| United | Commercial|Optum | $2.73 | ↓ -75% |
| Humana | Commercial|HMO | $2.84 | ↓ -74% |
| KelseyCare | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2.84 | ↓ -74% |
| Humana | Commercial|PPO | $2.84 | ↓ -74% |
| Shell | Commercial|All Plans | $2.90 | ↓ -73% |
| CHC | Medicaid|HMO | $3.19 | ↓ -70% |
| CHC | Medicaid|CHIP | $3.19 | ↓ -70% |
| TEXASTRUECHOICE | Medicaid|CHIP | $3.19 | ↓ -70% |
| Cigna Lifesource | Commercial|Transplant | $3.48 | ↓ -68% |
| Independent Med System | Commercial|All Plans | $3.48 | ↓ -68% |
| Coventry | Commercial|PPO | $3.77 | ↓ -65% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $3.77 | ↓ -65% |
| Humana | Commercial|Transplant | $3.77 | ↓ -65% |
| PHCS Savility | Commercial|PPO | $4.06 | ↓ -62% |
| PHCS | Commercial|PPO | $4.06 | ↓ -62% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Transplant | $4.06 | ↓ -62% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|PPO | $4.06 | ↓ -62% |
| Interlink | Commercial|Transplant | $4.06 | ↓ -62% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|AP3 | $4.17 | ↓ -61% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $4.35 | ↓ -60% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $4.79 | ↓ -55% |
| USA Health Network | Commercial|All Plans | $4.93 | ↓ -54% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|MyBlue Health Exchange | $5.79 | ↓ -46% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|PPO Trad | $5.79 | ↓ -46% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|Blue Advantage Exchange | $5.79 | ↓ -46% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|Premier | $5.79 | ↓ -46% |
| MHealth Network | Commercial|PPO | $5.79 | ↓ -46% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|HMO | $5.79 | ↓ -46% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Dextrose 5 % IV bolus at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCA HOUSTON MEDICAL CENTER | Houston | $404.30 | $3.64 – $48.12 |
| HCA HOUSTON WEST | HOUSTON | $503.00 | $2.94 – $48.12 |
| St. Luke's Health - The Vintage Hospital | Houston | $10.75 | $1.28 – $5.79 |
| HCA HOUSTON TOMBALL | HOUSTON | $353.31 | $3.64 – $48.12 |
| Adventhealth Rollins Brook | Lampasas | $137.39 | $58.37 – $58.37 |
| HCA HOUSTON CLEAR LAKE | FRIENDSWOOD | $508.55 | $3.64 – $48.12 |
| Covenant Children's Hospital | Lubbock | $47.69 | $10.64 – $60.53 |
| HCA HOUSTON NORTHWEST | SPRING | $354.45 | $3.64 – $48.12 |