Fine needle aspiration biopsy w/us gdn; ea addtl 10006 at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$559.20

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.

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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$932.00

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.

$36.86 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $745.60 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
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $36.86 ↓ -93%
Aetna Medicaid $40.71 ↓ -93%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $42.75 ↓ -92%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $44.78 ↓ -92%
Geisinger Medicaid $56.58 ↓ -90%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $60.37 ↓ -89%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $61.39 ↓ -89%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $63.55 ↓ -89%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $69.38 ↓ -88%
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $73.09 ↓ -87%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $307.05 ↓ -45%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $334.56 ↓ -40%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $466.00 ↓ -17%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $466.00 ↓ -17%
Cigna Commercial $466.00 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $477.74 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $493.96 ↓ -12%
Geisinger Commercial $512.60 ↓ -8%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $745.60 ↑ +33%

Visitor-reported prices

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Fine needle aspiration biopsy w/us gdn; ea addtl 10006 at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $1,597.80 $42.75 – $2,396.70
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $1,152.60 $51.70 – $9,539.00
UPMC Cole Coudersport $87.60 $40.47 – $2,325.85
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $1,152.60 $53.33 – $1,632.85
UPMC Hamot Erie $543.60 $36.86 – $73.09
UPMC Northwest Seneca $777.00 $44.78 – $95.67
UPMC Hanover Hanover $1,152.60 $51.70 – $76.49
UPMC Horizon-Greenville Greenville $741.00 $42.75 – $73.09

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →