Echocardiogram (Limited Follow-Up Heart Ultrasound) 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

$1,457.70

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.

$1,457.70

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.

$24.40 with Aetna vs $1,373.15 with Cigna — 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 $24.40 ↓ -98%
Anthem Medicare Advantage $24.40 ↓ -98%
Humana Medicare Advantage $28.06 ↓ -98%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $28.06 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $28.06 ↓ -98%
Wellcare Medicare Advantage $29.18 ↓ -98%
Aetna HMO/PPO $33.29 ↓ -98%
Multiplan Commercial $44.75 ↓ -97%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Commercial $46.90 ↓ -97%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Maine's Choice $46.90 ↓ -97%
United Healthcare Commercial $47.10 ↓ -97%
Aetna MHACO Commercial $48.88 ↓ -97%
Community Health Options Commercial $49.47 ↓ -97%
Anthem HMO/POS/PPO Pathway Enhanced $59.69 ↓ -96%
Cigna Commercial $1,373.15 ↓ -6%

Visitor-reported prices

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Echocardiogram (Limited Follow-Up Heart Ultrasound) at other Maine hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Franklin Memorial Hospital Farmington $865.55 $24.40 – $724.47
Stephens Memorial Hospital Norway $1,152.60 $24.40 – $372.38
Lincoln Health Damariscotta $620.85 $24.40 – $49.47
Pen Bay Medical Center Rockport $1,017.35 $23.69 – $49.47
Mid Coast Hospital Brunswick $1,017.35 $23.46 – $718.25
Spring Harbor Hospital Westbrook not published $23.46 – $49.63

All Maine hospitals for this procedure →