Bronchoscopy/needle bx each 31629 at UPMC Altoona
620 Howard Avenue, Altoona, PA · UPMC · · NPI 112418570
$975.60
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.
$1,626.00
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.
$187.39 with Aetna vs $3,796.26 with Cigna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Medicaid | $187.39 | ↓ -81% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $196.76 | ↓ -80% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $206.13 | ↓ -79% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $260.45 | ↓ -73% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $277.90 | ↓ -72% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $282.58 | ↓ -71% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $292.53 | ↓ -70% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $319.35 | ↓ -67% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $718.01 | ↓ -26% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $729.80 | ↓ -25% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $813.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $813.00 | ↓ -17% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $833.49 | ↓ -15% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $861.78 | ↓ -12% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $894.30 | ↓ -8% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $1,300.80 | ↑ +33% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $2,314.76 | ↑ +137% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $2,522.18 | ↑ +159% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $3,584.66 | ↑ +267% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Partners/Select | $3,643.71 | ↑ +273% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $3,761.11 | ↑ +286% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $3,796.26 | ↑ +289% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $3,796.26 | ↑ +289% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $3,796.26 | ↑ +289% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $3,796.26 | ↑ +289% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Bronchoscopy/needle bx each 31629 at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $4,327.80 | $196.76 – $6,491.70 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $4,452.00 | $237.99 – $6,307.00 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $4,452.00 | $252.98 – $6,307.00 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $1,516.80 | $206.13 – $5,112.40 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | $4,452.00 | $237.99 – $5,635.42 |
| UPMC Jameson | New Castle | $3,435.00 | $206.13 – $4,745.33 |
| UPMC Lititz | Lititz | $4,452.00 | $237.99 – $5,665.87 |
| UPMC Memorial | York | $4,452.00 | $237.99 – $5,656.67 |