After cataract laser surgery at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
1201 S Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO · SSM Health · · NPI 1942685920
$296.78
Cash price 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.
$539.60
Gross charge 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.
$369.53 with BCBS vs $3,406.00 with Healthlink — 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 →
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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 ?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 ?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 | $369.53 | ↑ +25% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Preferred HMO/POS | $377.42 | ↑ +27% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access Choice All Commercial Plans | $377.42 | ↑ +27% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access PPO | $406.82 | ↑ +37% |
| BCBS | Anthem Medicare Managed Care Plan | $539.87 | ↑ +82% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $550.89 | ↑ +86% |
| Centene | Wellcare Medicare Managed Care - PPO | $556.39 | ↑ +87% |
| Humana | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $560.25 | ↑ +89% |
| Aetna | Advantra Medicare Managed Care Plan | $561.90 | ↑ +89% |
| Essence | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $567.41 | ↑ +91% |
| Oscar | Exchange | $661.06 | ↑ +123% |
| Aetna | Carelink All Commercial Plans | $1,642.00 | ↑ +453% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $1,719.00 | ↑ +479% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Non-PPO Other Commercial Plan | $2,020.00 | ↑ +581% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Employee | $2,061.00 | ↑ +594% |
| Healthlink | HMO | $2,187.00 | ↑ +637% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Options PPO | $2,248.00 | ↑ +657% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $2,535.00 | ↑ +754% |
| Centene | Ambetter Exchange | $3,148.00 | ↑ +961% |
| Healthlink | PPO | $3,406.00 | ↑ +1048% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
After cataract laser surgery at other Missouri hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital | Saint Louis | not published | $314.36 – $3,935.00 |
| Mercy Hospital Lincoln | Troy | $1,214.78 | $701.51 – $1,035.15 |
| Mercy Orthopedic Hospital Springfield | Ozark | $1,759.87 | $216.17 – $2,307.00 |
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis | Lake Saint Louis | not published | $321.82 – $2,680.00 |
| SSM Health DePaul Hospital - St. Louis | Bridgeton | not published | $321.82 – $2,680.00 |
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital- Wentzville | Wentzville | not published | $321.82 – $3,886.00 |
| SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles | Saint Charles | not published | $321.82 – $2,680.00 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis | Richmond Heights | not published | $321.82 – $2,680.00 |