Culture fungi other (except blood) at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$118.80

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.

$198.00

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.

$8.31 with UPMC Work Partners vs $158.40 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 $8.31 ↓ -93%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicare $8.58 ↓ -93%
UPMC Health Plan Partners/Select $8.72 ↓ -93%
United Healthcare Medicare $9.00 ↓ -92%
AmeriHealth Caritas Medicare $9.08 ↓ -92%
Cigna Medicare $9.08 ↓ -92%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $9.08 ↓ -92%
PA Health & Wellness Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) $9.08 ↓ -92%
Aetna Medicaid $9.70 ↓ -92%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $9.70 ↓ -92%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $10.19 ↓ -91%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $10.67 ↓ -91%
Geisinger Medicaid $13.48 ↓ -89%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $14.39 ↓ -88%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $15.14 ↓ -87%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $16.25 ↓ -86%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $16.53 ↓ -86%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $37.02 ↓ -69%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $40.33 ↓ -66%
Cigna Commercial $99.00 ↓ -17%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $99.00 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $101.49 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $104.94 ↓ -12%
Geisinger Commercial $108.90 ↓ -8%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $158.40 ↑ +33%

Visitor-reported prices

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Culture fungi other (except blood) at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $58.80 $3.03 – $88.20
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $46.80 $8.33 – $66.30
UPMC Cole Coudersport $60.00 $5.47 – $80.00
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $46.80 $8.33 – $66.30
UPMC East Monroeville $125.40 $8.31 – $167.20
UPMC Hamot Erie $125.40 $8.31 – $16.25
UPMC Northwest Seneca $80.40 $7.63 – $11.15
UPMC Hanover Hanover $46.80 $8.33 – $13.46

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →