X-ray of the lower back (lumbar spine) (2 views) cost in New Mexico

Prices at 14 hospitals in New Mexico, from their machine-readable files. Here the median cash price is $295 — about the US median ($298), roughly 7.3× the Medicare rate.

Lowest cash prices

HospitalLocationCashInsurerCMS ratingER waitReadmit
Unm Hospital Albuquerque, NM $167 $103 ★ 2/5 273 min
Guadalupe County Hospital Santa Rosa, NM $171 $190
Union County General Hospital Clayton, NM $178 $229 132 min
Lovelace Medical Center Albuquerque, NM $248 $743 ★ 2/5 212 min
Lovelace Women's Hospital Albuquerque, NM $248 $743 ★ 4/5 205 min
Lovelace Westside Hospital Albuquerque, NM $248 $743 ★ 4/5 159 min
Lovelace Regional Hospital-Roswell Roswell, NM $248 $743 ★ 2/5 130 min
Holy Cross Hospital a Div of Taos Health Systems Taos, NM $342 ★ 1/5 92 min
Sierra Vista Hospital T Or C, NM $375 $114 175 min
Central Desert Behavioral Health Hospital Albuquerque, NM $425
Artesia General Hospital Artesia, NM $436 $211 99 min
Gila Regional Medical Center Silver City, NM $617 $271 ★ 2/5 191 min
Los Alamos Medical Center Los Alamos, NM $668 $766 168 min
Memorial Medical Center Las Cruces, NM $943 $655 ★ 2/5 206 min

CMS rating = overall hospital star rating (1–5); ER wait = median minutes in the emergency department; Readmit = 30-day readmission rate (lower is better) — all from Medicare’s Care Compare; “—” = not reported. Data last updated September 2026. Prices from hospitals’ machine-readable files (45 CFR §180); Medicare benchmark from CMS PFS/CLFS/IPPS. Prices below 15% of the median are excluded as likely partial or mis-coded charges. Estimates — confirm with the hospital. Report an incorrect price.

Price comparison (median)

Chargemaster (list price)
$749
Cash / self-pay
$295
Insurer-negotiated
$463
Medicare pays
$40
$173$653
Median cash $295  ·  Medicare $40  ·  bar = typical cash range (10th–90th percentile)
Is this a fair price?
1× Medicarefair ≈2×5×+

Typical cash price here is $295 — about 7.3× the Medicare rate ($40). High vs Medicare. A fair cash price is usually within ~2× Medicare ($81).

💡 Asking for the cash price instead of the $749 list price could save about $454 (61%).

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Rough estimate from this procedure’s median insurer-negotiated rate. Your actual cost depends on your plan — confirm with your insurer.

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X-ray of the lower back (lumbar spine) (2 views) cost in other states

All X-ray of the lower back (lumbar spine) (2 views) prices (national) → · All hospitals in New Mexico →