Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at HCA HOUSTON MEDICAL CENTER
1313 Hermann Dr, Houston, TX · HCA Houston Healthcare · · NPI 1073043592
$2,914.00
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.
$2,914.00
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.
$174.84 with Superior Health Plan vs $4,086.46 with Humana — 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 Health Plan | STAR | $174.84 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | STARPLUS | $174.84 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | STARKids | $174.84 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | CHIP | $174.84 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | CHPFC | $174.84 | ↓ -94% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | CHIP | $282.68 | ↓ -90% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | STAR+PLUS | $282.68 | ↓ -90% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | STAR | $282.68 | ↓ -90% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | CHIPPerinatal | $282.68 | ↓ -90% |
| United | MGMCD | $288.33 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna Better Health | MGMCD | $305.29 | ↓ -90% |
| Molina Healthcare | STAR | $306.90 | ↓ -89% |
| Molina Healthcare | STARPLUS | $306.90 | ↓ -89% |
| Molina Healthcare | STARKIDS | $306.90 | ↓ -89% |
| Molina Healthcare | CHIP | $306.90 | ↓ -89% |
| Humana | MCD | $348.75 | ↓ -88% |
| United | OptionsPPO | $489.55 | ↓ -83% |
| United | NarrowNetworkIndivExchange | $699.43 | ↓ -76% |
| BCBS | MyBlueHealth | $820.98 | ↓ -72% |
| United | AllPayerAppendix | $828.27 | ↓ -72% |
| United | SmallGroup | $828.27 | ↓ -72% |
| BCBS | BAV | $946.99 | ↓ -68% |
| BCBS | Traditional | $1,019.90 | ↓ -65% |
| Christus (USFHP) | TRICARE | $1,165.60 | ↓ -60% |
| Aetna | QHPExchange | $1,210.00 | ↓ -58% |
| Aetna | ASAPPO | $1,301.00 | ↓ -55% |
| United | GlobalAppendix | $1,311.30 | ↓ -55% |
| BCBS | HMO | $1,439.57 | ↓ -51% |
| BCBS | EPOSOA | $1,535.04 | ↓ -47% |
| Coventry National First Health | COMM | $1,553.16 | ↓ -47% |
| Aetna | NBHMO | $1,605.00 | ↓ -45% |
| Aetna | NBPPO | $1,605.00 | ↓ -45% |
| Aetna | NBPOS | $1,605.00 | ↓ -45% |
| BCBS | PPO | $1,626.68 | ↓ -44% |
| Aetna | COMMHMO | $1,706.00 | ↓ -41% |
| Aetna | COMMPPO | $1,706.00 | ↓ -41% |
| Aetna | COMMPOS | $1,706.00 | ↓ -41% |
| Aetna | OONPOS | $2,007.00 | ↓ -31% |
| Aetna | OONPPO | $2,007.00 | ↓ -31% |
| Aetna | OONHMO | $2,007.00 | ↓ -31% |
| Cigna | CSN | $2,127.00 | ↓ -27% |
| Aetna | ASAPOS | $2,168.00 | ↓ -26% |
| Aetna | ASAHMO | $2,168.00 | ↓ -26% |
| Cigna | OpenAccessPlus | $2,304.00 | ↓ -21% |
| Cigna | PPO | $2,739.00 | ↓ -6% |
| Humana | HMO | $4,086.46 | ↑ +40% |
| Humana | PPO | $4,086.46 | ↑ +40% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor St Luke's Medical Center | Houston | $5,010.95 | $279.00 – $14,317.00 |
| St. Luke's Health - The Vintage Hospital | Houston | $5,010.95 | $279.00 – $14,317.00 |
| HCA HOUSTON TOMBALL | HOUSTON | $11,967.09 | $279.00 – $820.98 |
| HCA HOUSTON WEST | HOUSTON | not published | $273.42 – $763.70 |
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $2,181.58 | $279.00 – $2,726.97 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BRENHAM | Brenham | $2,446.79 | $494.01 – $3,670.19 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BUDA | Suite 110 | $2,446.79 | $279.00 – $3,058.49 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - CENTENNIAL | Frisco | $2,181.58 | $279.00 – $2,726.97 |