Specimen fat stain at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
1201 S Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO · SSM Health · · NPI 1942685920
$37.40
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.
$68.00
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.
$5.76 with BCBS vs $10.17 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 Medicare Managed Care Plan | $5.76 | ↓ -85% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Non-PPO Other Commercial Plan | $5.88 | ↓ -84% |
| Oscar | Exchange | $5.88 | ↓ -84% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Options PPO | $5.88 | ↓ -84% |
| Centene | Wellcare Medicare Managed Care - PPO | $5.94 | ↓ -84% |
| Humana | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $5.98 | ↓ -84% |
| Aetna | Advantra Medicare Managed Care Plan | $6.00 | ↓ -84% |
| Essence | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $6.06 | ↓ -84% |
| BCBS | Anthem Pathway Exchange | $7.05 | ↓ -81% |
| UnitedHealthCare | Employee | $7.06 | ↓ -81% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Preferred HMO/POS | $7.20 | ↓ -81% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access Choice All Commercial Plans | $7.20 | ↓ -81% |
| BCBS | Anthem Blue Access PPO | $7.76 | ↓ -79% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $9.72 | ↓ -74% |
| Healthlink | HMO | $10.17 | ↓ -73% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Specimen fat stain at other Missouri hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital | Saint Louis | not published | $5.88 – $11.49 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Jefferson City | Jefferson City | $40.70 | $5.29 – $10.58 |
| Mercy Hospital Lincoln | Troy | $77.35 | $5.74 – $8.15 |
| Mercy Hospital Carthage | Carthage | $45.50 | $5.23 – $21.77 |
| Mercy Orthopedic Hospital Springfield | Ozark | $53.95 | $4.48 – $30.97 |
| LEE'S SUMMIT MEDICAL CENTER | Lee's Summit | $341.58 | $2.98 – $10.28 |
| RESEARCH PSYCHIATRIC CENTER | Kansas City | $181.00 | $2.98 – $10.57 |
| LAFAYETTE REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER | Lexington | $227.12 | $5.25 – $10.28 |