Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at St. Luke's Health - Lakeside Hospital
17400 St Lukes Way, The Woodlands, TX · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1184868879
$3,528.70
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.
$10,082.00
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.
$174.32 with Renaissance vs $10,082.00 with MHealth Network — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renaissance | Commercial|All Plans | $174.32 | ↓ -95% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $197.14 | ↓ -94% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $199.14 | ↓ -94% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|CHIP | $199.14 | ↓ -94% |
| UHC | Medicaid|CHIP | $201.08 | ↓ -94% |
| UHC | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $201.08 | ↓ -94% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $203.12 | ↓ -94% |
| BCBS | Medicaid|All Plans | $207.00 | ↓ -94% |
| CHC | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $229.01 | ↓ -94% |
| HUMANA | Medicare|All Other Plans | $242.11 | ↓ -93% |
| SELECTCARE | Medicare|All Plans | $242.11 | ↓ -93% |
| KELSEY | Medicare|All Plans | $242.11 | ↓ -93% |
| BCBS | Medicare|All Plans | $242.11 | ↓ -93% |
| CIGNA HEALTHSPRING | Medicare|HMO | $242.11 | ↓ -93% |
| HUMANA | Medicare|TRANSPLANT | $242.11 | ↓ -93% |
| CIGNA HEALTHSPRING | Medicare|PPO | $244.53 | ↓ -93% |
| UHC-SecureHorizons | Medicare|All Plans | $246.95 | ↓ -93% |
| AETNA | Medicare|All Plans | $246.95 | ↓ -93% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare|All Plans | $249.37 | ↓ -93% |
| SCANHealth | Medicare|All Plans | $259.06 | ↓ -93% |
| DEVOTED | Medicare|All Plans | $259.06 | ↓ -93% |
| KINDRED | Medicare|All Plans | $266.32 | ↓ -92% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|STAR | $266.85 | ↓ -92% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STAR | $272.82 | ↓ -92% |
| CHC | Medicaid|STAR | $306.68 | ↓ -91% |
| KelseyCare | Commercial|Exchange | $326.85 | ↓ -91% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|MyBlue Health Exchange | $340.24 | ↓ -90% |
| Community Health Choice | Commercial|All Other Plans | $363.17 | ↓ -90% |
| Ambetter | Commercial|All Plans | $363.17 | ↓ -90% |
| Wellpoint | Commercial|Exchange | $363.17 | ↓ -90% |
| Community Health Choice | Commercial|Exchange | $363.17 | ↓ -90% |
| Harris Health | Commercial|ERS | $363.17 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Exchange | $372.85 | ↓ -89% |
| Bright Health | Commercial|All Plans | $384.80 | ↓ -89% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|Exchange | $396.17 | ↓ -89% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $621.32 | ↓ -82% |
| UHC | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $621.32 | ↓ -82% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|Blue Premier | $722.42 | ↓ -80% |
| NX Health | Commercial|PPO | $786.86 | ↓ -78% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|Lakeside | $806.56 | ↓ -77% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $806.56 | ↓ -77% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|HMO | $901.86 | ↓ -74% |
| BCBS-TX | Commercial|PPO | $1,013.72 | ↓ -71% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Surefit | $1,015.00 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Transplant | $1,023.00 | ↓ -71% |
| Humana | Commercial|PPO | $1,050.00 | ↓ -70% |
| Humana | Commercial|HMO | $1,050.00 | ↓ -70% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|STAR | $1,080.80 | ↓ -69% |
| Cigna | Commercial|HMO | $1,119.00 | ↓ -68% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $1,145.00 | ↓ -68% |
| KelseyCare | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,398.60 | ↓ -60% |
| United | Commercial|Exchange | $1,535.00 | ↓ -56% |
| United | Commercial|Charter | $2,266.00 | ↓ -36% |
| United | Commercial|PPO | $2,518.00 | ↓ -29% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $2,518.00 | ↓ -29% |
| OPTUM | Medicare|All Plans | $2,722.14 | ↓ -23% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $2,812.00 | ↓ -20% |
| TCHPCHIP | Medicaid|HMO | $3,528.70 | ↑ +0% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STAR | $3,647.67 | ↑ +3% |
| United | Commercial|Optum | $4,738.54 | ↑ +34% |
| CHC | Medicaid|HMO | $5,545.10 | ↑ +57% |
| TEXASTRUECHOICE | Medicaid|CHIP | $5,545.10 | ↑ +57% |
| CHC | Medicaid|CHIP | $5,545.10 | ↑ +57% |
| Aetna-Kelsey Care | Commercial|HMO | $5,948.38 | ↑ +69% |
| Cigna Lifesource | Commercial|Transplant | $6,049.20 | ↑ +71% |
| Humana | Commercial|Transplant | $6,553.30 | ↑ +86% |
| Coventry | Commercial|PPO | $6,553.30 | ↑ +86% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $6,553.30 | ↑ +86% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $6,855.76 | ↑ +94% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Transplant | $7,057.40 | ↑ +100% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|PPO | $7,057.40 | ↑ +100% |
| Interlink | Commercial|Transplant | $7,057.40 | ↑ +100% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $7,561.50 | ↑ +114% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $8,329.75 | ↑ +136% |
| USA Health Network | Commercial|All Plans | $8,569.70 | ↑ +143% |
| MHealth Network | Commercial|PPO | $10,082.00 | ↑ +186% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adventhealth Rollins Brook | Lampasas | $4,346.09 | $1,085.97 – $1,085.97 |
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $2,190.02 | $197.14 – $2,737.52 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BRENHAM | Brenham | $2,288.05 | $314.76 – $3,432.08 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BUDA | Suite 110 | $2,065.69 | $197.14 – $2,582.11 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - CENTENNIAL | Frisco | $2,190.02 | $197.14 – $2,737.52 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - COLLEGE STATION | College Station | $2,288.05 | $210.94 – $3,432.08 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE CONTINUING CARE HOSPITAL | Temple | $2,288.05 | $197.14 – $3,432.08 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE EMERGENCY MEDICAL CENTER - CEDAR PARK | Cedar Park | $2,065.69 | $197.14 – $3,098.53 |