Arthrocentesis aspir+/injection small jt/bursa with Ultrasound 20604 at Waldo County General Hospital

118 Northport Ave, Belfast, ME · MaineHealth · · NPI 1841397932

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Sep 9, 2025 · Ingested Aug 13, 2026

$161.95

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.

$161.95

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.

$44.58 with Aetna vs $150.81 with Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare — 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
Aetna MHACO Government $44.58 ↓ -72%
Anthem Medicare Advantage $44.58 ↓ -72%
Humana Medicare Advantage $51.27 ↓ -68%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $51.27 ↓ -68%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $51.27 ↓ -68%
Wellcare Medicare Advantage $53.32 ↓ -67%
Aetna HMO/PPO $60.38 ↓ -63%
Multiplan Commercial $81.76 ↓ -50%
United Healthcare Commercial $86.06 ↓ -47%
Aetna MHACO Commercial $89.65 ↓ -45%
Anthem HMO/POS/PPO Pathway Enhanced $90.35 ↓ -44%
Community Health Options Commercial $94.21 ↓ -42%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Maine's Choice $135.73 ↓ -16%
Cigna Commercial $149.21 ↓ -8%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Commercial $150.81 ↓ -7%

Visitor-reported prices

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Arthrocentesis aspir+/injection small jt/bursa with Ultrasound 20604 at other Maine hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Franklin Memorial Hospital Farmington $48.00 $44.58 – $159.97
Stephens Memorial Hospital Norway $45.45 $17.73 – $43.18
Lincoln Health Damariscotta $421.15 $44.58 – $159.97
Pen Bay Medical Center Rockport $522.35 $44.21 – $159.97
Spring Harbor Hospital Westbrook not published $43.77 – $159.97
Mid Coast Hospital Brunswick not published $43.77 – $159.97

All Maine hospitals for this procedure →