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

Prices at 15 hospitals in New Mexico, from their machine-readable files. Here the median cash price is $315 — 8% below the US median ($343), roughly 6.7× the Medicare rate.

Lowest cash prices

HospitalLocationCashInsurerCMS ratingER waitReadmit
Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services Gallup, NM $117 $321 138 min
Union County General Hospital Clayton, NM $209 $268 130 min 15.3%
Unm Hospital Albuquerque, NM $222 $103 ★ 2/5 279 min 15.3%
Guadalupe County Hospital Santa Rosa, NM $228 $192
Lovelace Medical Center Albuquerque, NM $315 $743 ★ 2/5 217 min 14.9%
Lovelace Women's Hospital Albuquerque, NM $315 $743 ★ 4/5 199 min 14.0%
Lovelace Westside Hospital Albuquerque, NM $315 $743 ★ 4/5 154 min 15.2%
Lovelace Regional Hospital-Roswell Roswell, NM $315 $743 ★ 2/5 126 min 15.3%
Sierra Vista Hospital T Or C, NM $384 $114 171 min 15.2%
Holy Cross Hospital a Div of Taos Health Systems Taos, NM $417 ★ 1/5 98 min 14.7%
Central Desert Behavioral Health Hospital Albuquerque, NM $425
Artesia General Hospital Artesia, NM $510 $235 101 min 15.0%
Gila Regional Medical Center Silver City, NM $665 $258 ★ 2/5 184 min 15.1%
Los Alamos Medical Center Los Alamos, NM $785 $766 164 min 15.2%
Memorial Medical Center Las Cruces, NM $976 $655 ★ 2/5 204 min 15.4%

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 July 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)
$832
Cash / self-pay
$315
Insurer-negotiated
$321
Medicare pays
$47
$214$737
Median cash $315  ·  Medicare $47  ·  bar = typical cash range (10th–90th percentile)
Is this a fair price?
1× Medicarefair ≈2×5×+

Typical cash price here is $315 — about 6.7× the Medicare rate ($47). High vs Medicare. A fair cash price is usually within ~2× Medicare ($94).

💡 Asking for the cash price instead of the $832 list price could save about $517 (62%).

Estimate what you’ll pay
Quick fill:

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

By city

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

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