Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Baraboo

707 14Th St, Baraboo, WI · SSM Health · · NPI 1720472848

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Apr 1, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$1,497.10

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.

$2,722.00

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.

$76.16 with Molina vs $1,493.04 with BCBS — 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
Molina Medicare Managed Care Plan $76.16 ↓ -95%
Dean Health Plan Medicare Managed Care Plan $101.55 ↓ -93%
BCBS Blue Preferred/Blue Preferred Plus HMO/POS $1,391.34 ↓ -7%
BCBS Blue Access PPO $1,493.04 ↓ -0%
BCBS Blue Traditional Traditional $1,493.04 ↓ -0%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at other Wisconsin hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Milwaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) Milwaukee $1,041.45 $78.03 – $245.18
Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Ozaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) Mequon $1,395.49 $78.03 – $245.18
UnityPoint Health - Meriter Hospital Madison $3,187.15 $43.92 – $1,322.66
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Janesville Janesville $1,956.90 $78.98 – $998.49
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Madison Madison $2,265.45 $76.16 – $1,047.60
SSM Health Monroe Hospital Monroe $2,190.10 $101.55 – $341.23
SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital Ripon $1,495.45 $428.45 – $428.45
SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital - Fond du Lac Fond Du Lac $1,495.45 $77.56 – $199.58

All Wisconsin hospitals for this procedure →