Venipuncture <3 yrs other vein 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

$27.40

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.

$27.40

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.

$8.64 with Aetna vs $25.81 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 $8.64 ↓ -68%
Anthem Medicare Advantage $8.64 ↓ -68%
Humana Medicare Advantage $9.94 ↓ -64%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $9.94 ↓ -64%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $9.94 ↓ -64%
Wellcare Medicare Advantage $10.33 ↓ -62%
Aetna HMO/PPO $11.78 ↓ -57%
Multiplan Commercial $15.85 ↓ -42%
United Healthcare Commercial $16.68 ↓ -39%
Community Health Options Commercial $17.62 ↓ -36%
Aetna MHACO Commercial $17.64 ↓ -36%
Anthem HMO/POS/PPO Pathway Enhanced $18.24 ↓ -33%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Maine's Choice $22.96 ↓ -16%
Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Commercial $25.51 ↓ -7%
Cigna Commercial $25.81 ↓ -6%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
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Venipuncture <3 yrs other vein at other Maine hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Franklin Memorial Hospital Farmington $155.00 $8.64 – $34.04
Stephens Memorial Hospital Norway $21.85 $8.33 – $19.90
Lincoln Health Damariscotta $155.00 $8.64 – $34.04
Pen Bay Medical Center Rockport $155.00 $8.41 – $34.04
Spring Harbor Hospital Westbrook not published $8.33 – $34.04
Mid Coast Hospital Brunswick not published $8.33 – $34.04

All Maine hospitals for this procedure →