Assay of osteocalcin at UPMC Altoona

620 Howard Avenue, Altoona, PA · UPMC · · NPI 112418570

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published unknown · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$300.00

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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$500.00

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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$29.50 with UPMC Work Partners vs $400.00 with Private Health Care Systems — same scan, same building. Share

Negotiated rates by payer
?

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
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $29.50 ↓ -90%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicare $30.44 ↓ -90%
UPMC Health Plan Partners/Select $30.94 ↓ -90%
United Healthcare Medicare $31.94 ↓ -89%
AmeriHealth Caritas Medicare $32.24 ↓ -89%
Cigna Medicare $32.24 ↓ -89%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $32.24 ↓ -89%
PA Health & Wellness Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) $32.24 ↓ -89%
Aetna Medicaid $41.25 ↓ -86%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $41.25 ↓ -86%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $43.31 ↓ -86%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $45.38 ↓ -85%
Geisinger Medicaid $57.33 ↓ -81%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $61.17 ↓ -80%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $64.40 ↓ -79%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $70.30 ↓ -77%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $81.14 ↓ -73%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $243.26 ↓ -19%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $250.00 ↓ -17%
Cigna Commercial $250.00 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $256.30 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $265.00 ↓ -12%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $265.06 ↓ -12%
Geisinger Commercial $275.00 ↓ -8%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $400.00 ↑ +33%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
Report what you paid sign in to post

Comments

Add a comment sign in to post

Assay of osteocalcin at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $508.20 $10.77 – $762.30
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $150.60 $10.10 – $213.35
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $150.60 $29.55 – $243.26
UPMC East Monroeville $627.60 $29.50 – $836.80
UPMC Northwest Seneca $274.80 $27.07 – $47.44
UPMC Hanover Hanover $150.60 $10.10 – $56.18
UPMC Horizon-Greenville Greenville $299.40 $26.72 – $57.33
UPMC Jameson New Castle $169.20 $29.50 – $82.57

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →