Sodium serum/plasma/whole blood at Childrens Specialized Hospital

150 New Providence Rd, Mountainside, NJ · RWJBarnabas Health · · NPI 1396886297

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Mar 4, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$26.50

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.

$53.00

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.

$3.85 with Fidelis Care vs $51.94 with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey — 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
Fidelis Care NJ Family Care $3.85 ↓ -85%
United Healthcare Community Plan $3.97 ↓ -85%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey NJ Health $5.30 ↓ -80%
First Health Commercial $31.80 ↑ +20%
Cigna HMO $31.92 ↑ +20%
Cigna PPO $31.92 ↑ +20%
Emblem Health Commercial $36.04 ↑ +36%
Amerihealth Local Value $40.15 ↑ +52%
Amerihealth Regional Preferred $40.15 ↑ +52%
Aetna Better Health $40.52 ↑ +53%
Wellpoint NJ Family Care $40.52 ↑ +53%
Aetna PPO $40.81 ↑ +54%
Aetna HMO $40.81 ↑ +54%
Qualcare Inc HMO $41.34 ↑ +56%
Qualcare Inc PPO $41.34 ↑ +56%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Managed $51.94 ↑ +96%
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Non-Managed $51.94 ↑ +96%

Visitor-reported prices

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Sodium serum/plasma/whole blood at other New-jersey hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Trinitas Regional Medical Center Elizabeth $5.29 $2.26 – $20.04
Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center Livingston $5.29 $2.26 – $20.04
Community Medical Center Toms River $5.29 $2.26 – $20.04
Clara Maass Medical Center Belleville $5.29 $2.26 – $20.04
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Newark $5.29 $2.26 – $20.04
Jersey City Medical Center Jersey City $5.29 $2.26 – $20.04
Monmouth Medical Center Long Branch $5.29 $2.26 – $20.04
Bayshore Medical Center Holmdel $4.81 $4.81 – $22.04

All New-jersey hospitals for this procedure →