SelfPayRates
Scans and imaging CPT 72131 Maryland Outpatient

Lumbar spine CT cost in Maryland

In Maryland, 14 hospitals publish a cash price for CT scan of the lower back (lumbar spine) without contrast: from $102.85 to $1,483.72, with a median of $180.88. The lowest price is at MedStar St. Mary's Hospital (Leonardtown). The highest price is 14.4× the lowest.

  • The median here, $180.88, is 87% below the US median of $1,397.59.
  • That is 1.7× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($106.81).
  • Maryland has the lowest median of 51 states with at least 5 hospitals pricing this code.
  • 2 of 14 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.

Why Maryland prices look low: Maryland is the only state where a commission (the HSCRC) sets hospital rates for every payer, so its hospitals publish prices far below the rest of the country. A separate physician fee may still apply.

Maryland law (Health-General §19-214.1) requires hospitals to give free medically necessary care to patients with family income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and to cut the bill by 75% up to 250% and 60% up to 300%. With medical debt above 25% of family income in a year, discounts reach up to 500%. Immigration status does not count. Ask the hospital for its financial assistance application. Other states' laws.

Outpatient cash prices, one line per hospital — its lowest listed price for code 72131. Prices for both sides of the body and inpatient prices are not mixed in. Collected Oct 29, 2026. See them on a map

Lowest$102.85MedStar St. Mary's Hospital
Median$180.88half of hospitals charge less
Highest$1,483.72in Maryland
Lowest saves$78.03vs the median

Hospitals in Maryland, cheapest first

HospitalCash priceList priceFile date
MedStar St. Mary's Hospital lowest Leonardtown · Lexington Park, MD CT OR LUMBAR SPINE WO CONTRAST $102.85 $104.95 Apr 1, 2026
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UPMC Western Maryland Cumberland · Cumberland, MD-WV L-SPINE W/O $107.40 $179.00 Mar 2, 2026
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MedStar Montgomery Medical Center Olney · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV CT SPINE LUMBAR WO CONTRAST $119.71 $122.15 Apr 1, 2026
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MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD CT OR LUMBAR SPINE WO CONTRAST $123.48 $126.00 Apr 1, 2026
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MedStar Southern Hospital Center Clinton · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV CT SPINE LUMBAR WO CONTRAST $148.46 $151.49 Apr 1, 2026
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Greater Baltimore Medical Center Towson · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD HC CT Lumbar Spine Ne $164.37 $167.72 Jul 1, 2026
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Frederick Health Hospital Frederick · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV CT LUMBAR SPINE WO CONT $180.45 $184.13 Mar 17, 2025
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TidalHealth Peninsula Salisbury · Salisbury, MD HC C/T-L SPINE W/O CONTRAST $181.30 $185.00 Mar 19, 2026
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MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD CT OR LUMBAR SPINE WO CONTRAST $187.16 $190.98 Apr 1, 2026
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MedStar Harbor Hospital Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD BC-CT SPINE LUMBAR WO CONTRAST $202.69 $206.83 Apr 1, 2026
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Atlantic General Hospital Berlin · Ocean Pines, MD Computed tomography, lumbar spine; without contrast material $217.45 $217.45 Apr 10, 2026
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MedStar Union Memorial Hospital Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD CT SPINE LUMBAR WO CONTRAST $233.97 $238.74 Apr 1, 2026
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Mercy Medical Center Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD HC CT SCAN,LUMBAR SPINE,W/O CONTRAST $246.24 $251.27 Jan 1, 2026
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Union Hospital of Cecil County Elkton · Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD CT,LUMBAR SPINE,WO CONTRAST GLR $1,483.72 $1,483.72 Apr 1, 2026
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Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.
Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking. More
List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth. More
File date When the hospital last updated its price file, as the file says itself. A dash means the file gives no date.
At or below Medicare This cash price is at or below what Medicare pays a hospital for the same service, which is unusually low. It is what the hospital's file says; confirm it and what it includes before booking. More
No cash discount This line's cash price equals the hospital's full list price. Many hospitals still reduce bills for uninsured patients: ask the billing office for its self-pay discount in writing. More

By metro area

Each metro page compares every listing, including prices for both sides of the body.

Metro areaHospitalsLowestMedian
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 6 $123.48 $194.92
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 3 $119.71 $148.46
Cumberland, MD-WV 1 $107.40 $107.40
Lexington Park, MD 1 $102.85 $102.85
Ocean Pines, MD 1 $217.45 $217.45
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 1 $1,483.72 $1,483.72
Salisbury, MD 1 $181.30 $181.30
Market A metro area (as the Census Bureau defines it) or, outside metro areas, a town. Each links to every hospital price there.
Hospitals How many hospitals publish a cash price for this code here. Each hospital counts once, at its lowest outpatient cash price.
Lowest The lowest cash price among those hospitals.
Median The middle cash price: half of the hospitals charge less, half charge more. One price per hospital. More

What lumbar spine CT is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Lumbar spine CT explained.

CT scan of the lower back (lumbar spine) without contrast in other states

Median cash price across the state's hospitals.