Absorpt drg >16<=48 in w/bdr at UPMC Altoona
620 Howard Avenue, Altoona, PA · UPMC · · NPI 112418570
$1.80
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.
$3.00
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.
$0.50 with Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) vs $18.49 with UPMC Health Plan — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $0.50 | ↓ -72% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $0.50 | ↓ -72% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $0.50 | ↓ -72% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $0.53 | ↓ -71% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $0.55 | ↓ -69% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $0.55 | ↓ -69% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $0.55 | ↓ -69% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $0.80 | ↓ -56% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $5.37 | ↑ +198% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $7.02 | ↑ +290% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $16.97 | ↑ +843% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $18.49 | ↑ +927% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Absorpt drg >16<=48 in w/bdr at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $0.60 | $0.25 – $16.97 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $1.80 | $0.25 – $16.97 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $1.80 | $5.37 – $7.02 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $0.60 | $7.02 – $20.53 |
| UPMC Magee | Pittsburgh | $1.80 | $2.86 – $16.97 |
| UPMC McKeesport | Mckeesport | $1.80 | $2.86 – $16.97 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $1.80 | $5.42 – $24.62 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $2.40 | $3.28 – $27.43 |