CT scan for localization at UPMC Altoona
620 Howard Avenue, Altoona, PA · UPMC · · NPI 112418570
$1,572.00
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,620.00
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.
$180.60 with Aetna vs $2,878.77 with UPMC Health Plan — 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 | $180.60 | ↓ -89% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $189.63 | ↓ -88% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $198.66 | ↓ -87% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $251.02 | ↓ -84% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $267.83 | ↓ -83% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $272.34 | ↓ -83% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $281.93 | ↓ -82% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $307.78 | ↓ -80% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $419.62 | ↓ -73% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $621.00 | ↓ -60% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,310.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $1,310.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $1,310.00 | ↓ -17% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $1,343.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $1,388.60 | ↓ -12% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $1,441.00 | ↓ -8% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $2,096.00 | ↑ +33% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $2,642.02 | ↑ +68% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $2,878.77 | ↑ +83% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
CT scan for localization at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $1,312.80 | $236.59 – $1,859.80 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $1,312.80 | $236.59 – $2,642.02 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $1,350.00 | $248.09 – $1,089.09 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | $1,312.80 | $236.59 – $743.15 |
| UPMC Lititz | Lititz | $1,312.80 | $210.96 – $743.15 |
| UPMC McKeesport | Mckeesport | $2,220.00 | $232.06 – $710.12 |
| UPMC Memorial | York | $1,312.80 | $210.96 – $3,727.67 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $3,509.40 | $216.72 – $1,008.05 |