Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at St. Anne Hospital

16251 Sylvester Rd SW, Burien, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1558333682

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$2,088.46

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.

$6,839.41

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.

$269.04 with SoundPath vs $6,155.47 with MultiPlan — 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
SoundPath Medicare|All Plans $269.04 ↓ -87%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $269.04 ↓ -87%
Optum Medicare|All Plans $271.73 ↓ -87%
BCBS - Regence Medicare|All Plans $277.11 ↓ -87%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $277.11 ↓ -87%
BCBS - Premera Medicare|All Plans $277.11 ↓ -87%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $287.87 ↓ -86%
United Medicare|All Plans $290.56 ↓ -86%
Molina Medicare|All Plans $290.56 ↓ -86%
Amerigroup Medicare|All Plans $293.25 ↓ -86%
Seattle Medical Group Medicare|All Plans $309.40 ↓ -85%
Sound Family Medicine Commercial|All Plans $511.18 ↓ -76%
Molina Commercial|Marketplace Exchange $516.56 ↓ -75%
Cigna Commercial|All Plans $518.84 ↓ -75%
Coordinated Care Commercial|Ambetter Exchange $532.70 ↓ -74%
Uniform Medical Plan Commercial|All Plans $605.60 ↓ -71%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange $656.73 ↓ -69%
BCBS - Regence Commercial|All Plans $694.41 ↓ -67%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|All Other Plans $743.00 ↓ -64%
Aetna Commercial|AWH $936.26 ↓ -55%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $1,084.94 ↓ -48%
United Commercial|Cascade Care $1,084.94 ↓ -48%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,103.06 ↓ -47%
First Choice Commercial|All Plans $1,861.26 ↓ -11%
Kaiser Commercial|PPO $2,940.95 ↑ +41%
Kaiser Commercial|HMO $4,103.65 ↑ +96%
Aetna Commercial|Rental $4,924.38 ↑ +136%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $6,155.47 ↑ +195%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other Washington hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center Spokane $1,401.12 $243.75 – $292.47
Providence St Joseph Hospital Chewelah $2,480.80 not published
Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus Seattle $1,057.44 $276.30 – $1,095.29
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital Spokane $2,968.70 $265.88 – $838.94
Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill Seattle $1,057.44 $276.30 – $1,060.33
Swedish Issaquah Issaquah $1,057.44 $277.07 – $1,095.29
Central Medical Center Seattle $2,080.00 $242.00 – $242.00
Providence Centralia Hospital Centralia $1,083.68 $276.30 – $1,451.84

All Washington hospitals for this procedure →