M/phmtrc alysishquant/semiq at UPMC Altoona
620 Howard Avenue, Altoona, PA · UPMC · · NPI 112418570
$152.40
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$254.00
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.
$30.54 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $741.31 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $30.54 | ↓ -80% |
| Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) | Medicaid/CHIP | $36.15 | ↓ -76% |
| Aetna | Medicaid | $36.15 | ↓ -76% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $37.96 | ↓ -75% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $39.77 | ↓ -74% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $50.24 | ↓ -67% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $53.61 | ↓ -65% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $56.43 | ↓ -63% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $61.61 | ↓ -60% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $62.31 | ↓ -59% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $127.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $127.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $127.00 | ↓ -17% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $130.20 | ↓ -15% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $134.62 | ↓ -12% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $139.70 | ↓ -8% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $203.20 | ↑ +33% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $680.34 | ↑ +346% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $741.31 | ↑ +386% |
Visitor-reported prices
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M/phmtrc alysishquant/semiq at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $166.20 | $37.95 – $235.45 |
| UPMC Cole | Coudersport | $514.80 | $53.00 – $686.40 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $166.20 | $47.36 – $680.34 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $1,038.00 | $30.83 – $1,384.00 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $426.00 | $30.54 – $240.11 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $646.80 | $61.44 – $96.27 |
| UPMC Horizon-Greenville | Greenville | $400.20 | $49.38 – $96.27 |
| UPMC Jameson | New Castle | $112.80 | $31.08 – $244.91 |