Observation per hour at Baylor St Luke's Medical Center
1101 Bates Avenue, Houston, TX · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1184622847
$21.70
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.
$62.00
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.
$6.82 with Wellpoint vs $10,335.00 with Cigna — 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 | Medicaid|CHIP | $6.82 | ↓ -69% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $6.82 | ↓ -69% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $6.82 | ↓ -69% |
| CHC | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $6.82 | ↓ -69% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $6.82 | ↓ -69% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $6.82 | ↓ -69% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $6.96 | ↓ -68% |
| UHC | Medicaid|CHIP | $6.96 | ↓ -68% |
| UHC | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $6.96 | ↓ -68% |
| BCBS | Medicaid|All Plans | $7.17 | ↓ -67% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|STAR | $9.14 | ↓ -58% |
| CHC | Medicaid|STAR | $9.14 | ↓ -58% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|STAR | $9.14 | ↓ -58% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STAR | $9.35 | ↓ -57% |
| OPTUM | Medicare|All Plans | $16.74 | ↓ -23% |
| UHC | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $21.28 | ↓ -2% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $21.28 | ↓ -2% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STAR | $22.44 | ↑ +3% |
| TCHPCHIP | Medicaid|HMO | $25.42 | ↑ +17% |
| TCH | Commercial|Transplant | $27.90 | ↑ +29% |
| United | Commercial|Optum | $29.14 | ↑ +34% |
| Shell | Commercial|All Plans | $31.00 | ↑ +43% |
| TEXASTRUECHOICE | Medicaid|CHIP | $34.10 | ↑ +57% |
| CHC | Medicaid|HMO | $34.10 | ↑ +57% |
| CHC | Medicaid|CHIP | $34.10 | ↑ +57% |
| Aetna | Commercial|KelseyCare | $35.34 | ↑ +63% |
| Cigna Lifesource | Commercial|Transplant | $37.20 | ↑ +71% |
| Coventry | Commercial|PPO | $40.30 | ↑ +86% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $40.30 | ↑ +86% |
| PHCS | Commercial|PPO | $40.30 | ↑ +86% |
| Humana | Commercial|Transplant | $40.30 | ↑ +86% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $40.92 | ↑ +89% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Transplant | $43.40 | ↑ +100% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $43.40 | ↑ +100% |
| PHCS Savility | Commercial|PPO | $43.40 | ↑ +100% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|PPO | $43.40 | ↑ +100% |
| Interlink | Commercial|Transplant | $43.40 | ↑ +100% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|AP3 | $44.64 | ↑ +106% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $46.50 | ↑ +114% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Transplant | $47.12 | ↑ +117% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $51.23 | ↑ +136% |
| USA Health Network | Commercial|All Plans | $52.70 | ↑ +143% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|MyBlue Health Exchange | $62.00 | ↑ +186% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|HMO | $62.00 | ↑ +186% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|Blue Advantage Exchange | $62.00 | ↑ +186% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|PPO Trad | $62.00 | ↑ +186% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|Premier | $62.00 | ↑ +186% |
| MHealth Network | Commercial|PPO | $62.00 | ↑ +186% |
| KelseyCare | Commercial|All Other Plans | $90.90 | ↑ +319% |
| Humana | Commercial|PPO | $100.00 | ↑ +361% |
| Humana | Commercial|HMO | $100.00 | ↑ +361% |
| United | Commercial|Exchange | $2,922.00 | ↑ +13365% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Surefit | $3,734.00 | ↑ +17107% |
| United | Commercial|Charter | $3,935.00 | ↑ +18034% |
| Cigna | Commercial|HMO | $4,115.00 | ↑ +18863% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $4,371.00 | ↑ +20043% |
| United | Commercial|PPO | $4,371.00 | ↑ +20043% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $10,335.00 | ↑ +47527% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Observation per hour at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Luke's Health - The Vintage Hospital | Houston | $21.70 | $4.96 – $90.90 |
| Adventhealth Rollins Brook | Lampasas | $644.35 | $489.80 – $489.80 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE EMERGENCY MEDICAL CENTER - CEDAR PARK | Cedar Park | $82.93 | $27.64 – $384.20 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - MCKINNEY | McKinney | $107.81 | $30.55 – $390.57 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - FRISCO AT PGA PARKWAY | Frisco | $107.81 | $50.31 – $390.57 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MCLANE CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER | Temple | $82.93 | $20.73 – $384.20 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE THE HEART HOSPITAL - DENTON | Denton | $107.81 | $19.77 – $390.57 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - PFLUGERVILLE | Suite 100 | $82.93 | $15.20 – $384.20 |