Cisplatin 1 mg/ml desensitization at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$446.40

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.

$558.00

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.

$1.45 with UPMC Health Plan vs $446.40 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 Health Plan Managed Medicaid $1.45 ↓ -100%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $2.29 ↓ -99%
Geisinger Medicaid $2.29 ↓ -99%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $2.29 ↓ -99%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $2.29 ↓ -99%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $2.82 ↓ -99%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $4.69 ↓ -99%
United Healthcare Commercial $8.07 ↓ -98%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $139.02 ↓ -69%
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $207.46 ↓ -54%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $279.00 ↓ -38%
Cigna Commercial $279.00 ↓ -38%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $279.00 ↓ -38%
Aetna Commercial $295.74 ↓ -34%
Geisinger Commercial $306.90 ↓ -31%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $446.40 ↑ +0%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
Report what you paid sign in to post

Comments

Add a comment sign in to post

Cisplatin 1 mg/ml desensitization at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Cole Coudersport $12.00 $0.55 – $2.29
UPMC East Monroeville $781.80 $1.45 – $1,042.40
UPMC Hamot Erie $565.60 $1.45 – $11.01
UPMC Northwest Seneca $700.00 $1.45 – $183.03
UPMC Horizon-Greenville Greenville $592.80 $1.45 – $179.73
UPMC Magee Pittsburgh $749.40 $1.45 – $140.34
UPMC McKeesport Mckeesport $543.60 $1.45 – $140.34
UPMC Mercy Pittsburgh $556.00 $1.45 – $139.02

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →