Observation per hour at St. Luke's Health - Patients Medical Center

4600 E. Sam Houston Parkway South, Pasadena, TX · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1407990088

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$155.40

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$444.00

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$4.39 with TCHP 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 →

Payer
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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
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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
TCHP Medicaid|All Plans $4.39 ↓ -97%
CHC Medicaid|All Plans $4.39 ↓ -97%
Wellpoint Medicaid|All Plans $4.62 ↓ -97%
UNITED Medicaid|All Other Plans $4.72 ↓ -97%
UNITED Medicaid|STAR $6.33 ↓ -96%
UNITED Medicaid|STARPLUS $14.42 ↓ -91%
Aetna-Kelsey Care Commercial|HMO $38.94 ↓ -75%
Cigna Lifesource Commercial|Transplant $39.60 ↓ -75%
PHCS Commercial|All Plans $42.90 ↓ -72%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $42.90 ↓ -72%
Coventry Commercial|PPO $42.90 ↓ -72%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $44.88 ↓ -71%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $44.88 ↓ -71%
Healthsmart Commercial|PPO $46.20 ↓ -70%
Cigna Commercial|Transplant $46.20 ↓ -70%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $49.50 ↓ -68%
Aetna Commercial|Transplant $50.16 ↓ -68%
BCBS - TX Commercial|MyBlue Health Exchange $66.00 ↓ -58%
BCBS-TX Commercial|PPO $66.00 ↓ -58%
BCBS-TX Commercial|Exchange $66.00 ↓ -58%
BCBS-TX Commercial|HMO $66.00 ↓ -58%
BCBS-TX Commercial|Blue Premier $66.00 ↓ -58%
Humana Commercial|HMO $90.00 ↓ -42%
Humana Commercial|PPO $90.00 ↓ -42%
United Commercial|Exchange $2,396.00 ↑ +1442%
United Commercial|Charter $3,538.00 ↑ +2177%
Cigna Commercial|Surefit $3,734.00 ↑ +2303%
United Commercial|PPO $3,931.00 ↑ +2430%
United Commercial|HMO $3,931.00 ↑ +2430%
Cigna Commercial|HMO $4,115.00 ↑ +2548%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $10,335.00 ↑ +6551%

Visitor-reported prices

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Observation per hour at other Texas hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Adventhealth Rollins Brook Lampasas $644.35 $489.80 – $489.80
Baylor St Luke's Medical Center Houston $21.70 $6.82 – $90.90
St. Joseph Health Madison Hospital Madisonville $52.85 $38.48 – $271.80
St. Luke's Health Memorial Lufkin Lufkin $34.54 $19.65 – $131.00
St. Luke's Health - Springwoods Village Hospital Spring $21.70 $6.20 – $90.90
St. Luke's Health - Sugar Land Hospital Sugar Land $21.70 $4.96 – $90.90
St. Joseph Health College Station Hospital College Station $52.85 $24.16 – $256.70
St. Luke's Health - Lakeside Hospital The Woodlands $21.70 $4.96 – $90.90

All Texas hospitals for this procedure →