Ascenda two piece catheter at UPMC Altoona
620 Howard Avenue, Altoona, PA · UPMC · · NPI 112418570
$26,949.60
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.
$44,916.00
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.
$6,943.99 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $50,975.11 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 BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $6,943.99 | ↓ -74% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $7,038.36 | ↓ -74% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $12,224.52 | ↓ -55% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $12,224.52 | ↓ -55% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $12,531.99 | ↓ -53% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $14,447.16 | ↓ -46% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $18,522.00 | ↓ -31% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $18,522.00 | ↓ -31% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $18,522.00 | ↓ -31% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $19,633.32 | ↓ -27% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $20,374.20 | ↓ -24% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $29,635.20 | ↑ +10% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $46,783.02 | ↑ +74% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $50,975.11 | ↑ +89% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Ascenda two piece catheter at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Cole | Coudersport | $22,632.60 | $7,166.99 – $30,176.80 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $28,797.60 | $7,010.12 – $46,783.02 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $30,548.40 | $6,943.99 – $6,943.99 |
| UPMC Jameson | New Castle | $28,797.60 | $5,219.30 – $46,783.02 |
| UPMC Magee | Pittsburgh | $43,096.20 | $5,741.23 – $46,783.02 |
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | $28,797.60 | $6,943.99 – $36,941.87 |
| UPMC Muncy | Muncy | $25,665.60 | $6,416.40 – $38,498.40 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $80,733.00 | $7,010.12 – $75,639.78 |