Blood smear microscopic w manual differential wbc count at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$34.80

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.

$58.00

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.

$3.75 with UPMC Work Partners vs $46.40 with Private Health Care Systems — 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
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $3.75 ↓ -89%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicare $3.88 ↓ -89%
UPMC Health Plan Partners/Select $3.94 ↓ -89%
United Healthcare Medicare $4.07 ↓ -88%
Cigna Medicare $4.10 ↓ -88%
AmeriHealth Caritas Medicare $4.10 ↓ -88%
PA Health & Wellness Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) $4.10 ↓ -88%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $4.10 ↓ -88%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $4.50 ↓ -87%
Aetna Medicaid $4.50 ↓ -87%
CBHNP Commercial $4.50 ↓ -87%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $4.72 ↓ -86%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $4.95 ↓ -86%
Geisinger Medicaid $6.25 ↓ -82%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $6.65 ↓ -81%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $6.67 ↓ -81%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $7.02 ↓ -80%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $7.67 ↓ -78%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $9.86 ↓ -72%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $10.74 ↓ -69%
Cigna Commercial $29.00 ↓ -17%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $29.00 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $29.73 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $30.74 ↓ -12%
Geisinger Commercial $31.90 ↓ -8%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $46.40 ↑ +33%

Visitor-reported prices

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Blood smear microscopic w manual differential wbc count at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $40.80 $1.37 – $61.20
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $13.80 $3.15 – $19.55
UPMC Cole Coudersport $27.00 $2.47 – $36.00
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $20.40 $3.76 – $19.55
UPMC Hamot Erie $60.00 $3.75 – $6.65
UPMC Hanover Hanover $13.80 $3.76 – $6.13
UPMC Horizon-Greenville Greenville $29.40 $2.75 – $7.13
UPMC Jameson New Castle $14.40 $3.75 – $6.77

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →