Echo exam of fetal heart at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles

300 1St Capitol Dr, Saint Charles, MO · SSM Health · · NPI 1467521146

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Apr 1, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$431.75

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.

$785.00

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.

Full explanation →

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

$47.69 with BCBS vs $223.39 with UnitedHealthCare — 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
BCBS Anthem Pathway Exchange $47.69 ↓ -89%
BCBS Anthem Blue Access Choice PPO $49.01 ↓ -89%
BCBS Anthem Blue Preferred HMO/POS $49.24 ↓ -89%
BCBS Anthem Blue Access PPO $53.11 ↓ -88%
Cigna OAP Other Commercial Plan $72.59 ↓ -83%
Aetna Medicare Managed Care Plan $104.71 ↓ -76%
Aetna Gold Advantage Medicare Managed Care Plan $105.76 ↓ -76%
UnitedHealthCare Medicare Managed Care Plan $106.26 ↓ -75%
BCBS Anthem Medicare Managed Care Plan $106.29 ↓ -75%
Humana Medicare Managed Care Plan $106.49 ↓ -75%
Aetna Advantra Medicare Managed Care Plan $108.38 ↓ -75%
Oscar Exchange $125.66 ↓ -71%
Healthlink HMO $144.28 ↓ -67%
Healthlink Employers Choice All Commercial Plans $144.28 ↓ -67%
UnitedHealthCare Options PPO $217.94 ↓ -50%
UnitedHealthCare St. Louis University Employee $223.39 ↓ -48%
UnitedHealthCare All Commercial Plans $223.39 ↓ -48%

Visitor-reported prices

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Echo exam of fetal heart at other Missouri hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis Lake Saint Louis $431.75 $47.69 – $144.28
SSM Health DePaul Hospital - St. Louis Bridgeton $431.75 $47.69 – $144.28
SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital- Wentzville Wentzville $431.75 $47.69 – $217.94
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis Richmond Heights $431.75 $47.69 – $144.28
Mercy Hospital Southeast Cape Girardeau $1,021.80 $35.90 – $671.83
Mercy Orthopedic Hospital Springfield Ozark $498.55 $35.52 – $1,188.60
SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton Fenton $431.75 $47.69 – $144.28
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital Saint Louis $656.37 $46.59 – $196.15

All Missouri hospitals for this procedure →