Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at Whitesburg ARH Hospital

240 Hospital Road, Whitesburg, KY · Arh · · NPI 1194723726

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Jan 1, 2026 · Ingested Sep 16, 2026

$1,224.00

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.

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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$2,040.00

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.

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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$204.65 with Passport Molina vs $1,128.60 with Aetna 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 →

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
Passport Molina Medicaid $204.65 ↓ -83%
WellCare of Kentucky Medicaid $313.50 ↓ -74%
Anthem Medicare Advantage $328.29 ↓ -73%
Aetna Medicare $328.29 ↓ -73%
Optum CCN Region 2 Veterans Affairs Plan $328.29 ↓ -73%
United Healthcare Medicare $328.29 ↓ -73%
Optum CCN Region 1 Veterans Affairs Plan $328.29 ↓ -73%
Humana Medicare $328.29 ↓ -73%
WellCare of Kentucky Medicare $328.29 ↓ -73%
Aetna Better Health Medicaid $363.66 ↓ -70%
Anthem Medicaid $363.66 ↓ -70%
Humana Medicaid $374.57 ↓ -69%
CareSoure Kentucky Commercial $752.40 ↓ -39%
United Healthcare PPO Commercial $958.06 ↓ -22%
UMR Commercial $958.06 ↓ -22%
United Healthcare HMO Commercial $958.06 ↓ -22%
Anthem HMO Commercial $1,041.57 ↓ -15%
Anthem PPO Commercial $1,096.37 ↓ -10%
Aetna POS Commercial $1,128.60 ↓ -8%
Aetna PPO Commercial $1,128.60 ↓ -8%

Visitor-reported prices

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Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at other Kentucky hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Berea Berea $663.79 $372.19 – $1,227.59
Lourdes Hospital Paducah $6,294.00 $623.59 – $636.06
CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Mount Sterling Mt. Sterling $531.03 $221.44 – $962.78
CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph London London $595.92 $191.50 – $1,220.31
CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph East Lexington $670.80 $269.33 – $1,002.82
CHI Saint Joseph Health - Saint Joseph Hospital Lexington $841.05 $286.35 – $1,109.29
CHI Saint Joseph Health - Flaget Memorial Hospital Bardstown $870.21 $169.00 – $871.78
Adventhealth Manchester Manchester $3,153.94 $588.59 – $588.59

All Kentucky hospitals for this procedure →