Brain MRA (blood vessel MRI, without contrast) at Houston Methodist West Hospital
18500 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX · Houstonmethodist · · NPI 1083937593
$1,130.50
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,261.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$239.69 with Bcbs vs $1,691.87 with Bcbs — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bcbs | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $239.69 | ↓ -79% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo/Ppo | $243.28 | ↓ -78% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $244.48 | ↓ -78% |
| Cigna | Texas Healthspring Medicare Managed Care - Hmo/Ppo | $246.88 | ↓ -78% |
| Molina Healthcare | Advantage Medicare Managed Care Plan | $251.67 | ↓ -78% |
| Community Health Choice | D-Snp Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $256.47 | ↓ -77% |
| Procare Advantage | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $263.66 | ↓ -77% |
| Community Health Choice | Silver & Gold Exchange | $390.69 | ↓ -65% |
| Optum Health | Transplant Medicare Managed Care Plan | $467.39 | ↓ -59% |
| Molina Healthcare | Exchange | $479.38 | ↓ -58% |
| Aetna | New Business Discount Other Commercial Plan | $625.36 | ↓ -45% |
| Aetna | Hmo/Pos/Ppo | $644.40 | ↓ -43% |
| Uae | All Commercial Plans | $958.76 | ↓ -15% |
| Bcbs | All Commercial Plans | $1,691.87 | ↑ +50% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRA (blood vessel MRI, without contrast) at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor St Luke's Medical Center | Houston | $1,471.40 | $222.20 – $4,204.00 |
| St. Luke's Health - The Vintage Hospital | Houston | $1,471.40 | $222.20 – $4,204.00 |
| Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital | Houston | $1,130.50 | $239.69 – $467.39 |
| Houston Methodist Hospital | Houston | $1,130.50 | $239.69 – $958.76 |
| HCA HOUSTON MEDICAL CENTER | Houston | not published | $224.54 – $501.04 |
| HCA HOUSTON WEST | HOUSTON | not published | $217.76 – $466.08 |
| Adventhealth Rollins Brook | Lampasas | $3,908.13 | $1,085.97 – $1,085.97 |
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $2,674.86 | $222.20 – $3,343.57 |