Screening Mammogram at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$345.00

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.

Full explanation →

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

$575.00

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.

$60.95 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $600.84 with UPMC Health Plan — 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
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $60.95 ↓ -82%
Aetna Medicaid $75.02 ↓ -78%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $78.77 ↓ -77%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $82.52 ↓ -76%
Geisinger Medicaid $104.27 ↓ -70%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $111.25 ↓ -68%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $113.13 ↓ -67%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $117.11 ↓ -66%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $127.85 ↓ -63%
Cigna Commercial $287.50 ↓ -17%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $287.50 ↓ -17%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $287.50 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $294.75 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $304.75 ↓ -12%
Geisinger Commercial $316.25 ↓ -8%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $460.00 ↑ +33%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $551.43 ↑ +60%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $600.84 ↑ +74%
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp not published by hospital —

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
Report what you paid sign in to post

Comments

Add a comment sign in to post

Screening Mammogram at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $205.20 $85.50 – $307.80
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $257.40 $58.77 – $506.81
UPMC Cole Coudersport $381.00 $109.94 – $508.00
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $399.60 $38.80 – $551.43
UPMC Hamot Erie $205.20 $60.95 – $178.43
UPMC Northwest Seneca $205.20 $115.17 – $178.43
UPMC Hanover Hanover $257.40 $98.28 – $506.81
UPMC Horizon-Greenville Greenville $205.20 $49.00 – $178.43

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →