Bx skin punch ea sep/ addl les at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$644.40

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.

$1,074.00

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.

$22.05 with Aetna vs $859.20 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
Aetna Medicaid $22.05 ↓ -97%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $23.15 ↓ -96%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $24.25 ↓ -96%
Geisinger Medicaid $30.65 ↓ -95%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $32.70 ↓ -95%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $33.25 ↓ -95%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $34.42 ↓ -95%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $36.41 ↓ -94%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $37.58 ↓ -94%
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $72.21 ↓ -89%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $113.01 ↓ -82%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $123.13 ↓ -81%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $537.00 ↓ -17%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $537.00 ↓ -17%
Cigna Commercial $537.00 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $550.53 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $569.22 ↓ -12%
Geisinger Commercial $590.70 ↓ -8%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $859.20 ↑ +33%

Visitor-reported prices

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Bx skin punch ea sep/ addl les at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $706.20 $23.15 – $1,059.30
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $366.60 $28.00 – $9,539.00
UPMC Cole Coudersport $258.60 $19.40 – $2,094.25
UPMC East Monroeville $706.20 $24.25 – $941.60
UPMC Hamot Erie $748.80 $24.25 – $72.21
UPMC Northwest Seneca $658.20 $24.25 – $94.51
UPMC Hanover Hanover $366.60 $28.00 – $75.57
UPMC Horizon-Greenville Greenville $1,009.80 $23.15 – $72.21

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →