Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at Princeton Community Hospital
122 12th St, Princeton, WV · Wvumedicine · · NPI 1558313213
$246.50
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$493.00
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.
$42.98 with highmark health options west va vs $2,077.40 with blue cross blue shield ppo — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| highmark health options west va | mgd mcaid | $42.98 | ↓ -83% |
| wellpoint wv | chip | $42.98 | ↓ -83% |
| wellpoint west virginia | mgd mcaid | $42.98 | ↓ -83% |
| highmark health options | chip | $42.98 | ↓ -83% |
| the health plan wv | mgd mcaid | $43.59 | ↓ -82% |
| the health plan wv | chip | $43.80 | ↓ -82% |
| aetna | better health wv mgd medicaid | $43.80 | ↓ -82% |
| aetna better health wv | chip | $43.80 | ↓ -82% |
| aetna | better health va mgd medicaid | $45.02 | ↓ -82% |
| pennsylvania health & wellness | medicaid | $45.02 | ↓ -82% |
| molina managed medicaid | molina managed medicaid | $94.00 | ↓ -62% |
| aetna better health pa | chip | $103.40 | ↓ -58% |
| optima va medicare advantage | all plans | $356.66 | ↑ +45% |
| peak health medicare advantage | all plans | $356.66 | ↑ +45% |
| united mine workers of america medicare advantage | united mine workers of america medicare advantage | $356.66 | ↑ +45% |
| anthem va medicare advantage | hmo | $356.66 | ↑ +45% |
| highmark wv medicare advantage | all plans | $370.93 | ↑ +50% |
| humana medicare advantage | all plans | $374.49 | ↑ +52% |
| aetna medicare advantage | all plans | $374.49 | ↑ +52% |
| pa health & wellness medicare advantage | all plan | $374.49 | ↑ +52% |
| wv senior advantage | isnp | $378.06 | ↑ +53% |
| the health plan wv medicare advantage | all plans | $378.06 | ↑ +53% |
| unitedhealthcare medicare advantage | all plans | $388.76 | ↑ +58% |
| the health plan wv | peia | $399.46 | ↑ +62% |
| occunet | occunet | $481.49 | ↑ +95% |
| coventry health care | worker's compensation | $563.52 | ↑ +129% |
| alliance coal | alliance coal | $624.16 | ↑ +153% |
| blue cross blue shield traditional | blue cross blue shield traditional | $2,077.40 | ↑ +743% |
| blue cross blue shield ppo | blue cross blue shield ppo | $2,077.40 | ↑ +743% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at other West-virginia hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Medical Center | Ranson | $850.50 | not published |
| West Virginia University Hospitals | Morgantown | $1,633.50 | $42.98 – $1,422.66 |
| Grant Memorial Hospital | Petersburg | $1,528.00 | not published |
| Reynolds Memorial Hospital | Glen Dale | $1,258.50 | $42.98 – $582.78 |
| Summersville Regional Medical Center | Summersville | $1,227.00 | not published |
| Berkeley Medical Center | Martinsburg | $1,050.00 | $42.98 – $587.60 |
| Braxton County Memorial Hospital | Gassaway | $718.50 | not published |
| United Hospital Center | Bridgeport | $1,085.50 | $42.98 – $629.39 |