Transcatheter bx s&i at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$3,331.20

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.

$5,552.00

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.

$10.00 with Aetna vs $4,441.60 with Private Health Care Systems — 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
Aetna Medicaid $10.00 ↓ -100%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $10.50 ↓ -100%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $11.00 ↓ -100%
Geisinger Medicaid $13.90 ↓ -100%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $14.83 ↓ -100%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $15.08 ↓ -100%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $15.61 ↓ -100%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $17.04 ↓ -99%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $541.36 ↓ -84%
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $962.35 ↓ -71%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $1,721.27 ↓ -48%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $1,875.51 ↓ -44%
Cigna Commercial $2,776.00 ↓ -17%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $2,776.00 ↓ -17%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $2,776.00 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $2,845.96 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $2,942.56 ↓ -12%
Geisinger Commercial $3,053.60 ↓ -8%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $4,441.60 ↑ +33%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
Report what you paid sign in to post

Comments

Add a comment sign in to post

Transcatheter bx s&i at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $6,169.80 $13.10 – $8,740.55
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $6,169.80 $13.10 – $8,740.55
UPMC Hamot Erie $1,911.60 $19.25 – $1,174.76
UPMC Hanover Hanover $6,169.80 $13.10 – $1,137.12
UPMC Lititz Lititz $6,169.80 $13.10 – $1,119.67
UPMC Magee Pittsburgh $2,271.60 $19.25 – $1,174.76
UPMC Memorial York $6,169.80 $13.10 – $3,108.22
UPMC Mercy Pittsburgh $2,360.40 $19.25 – $1,195.62

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →