Warde 3400652 smear complex special stain ova/parasites at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$93.60

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.

$156.00

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.

$17.78 with UPMC Work Partners vs $124.80 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 $17.78 ↓ -81%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicare $18.34 ↓ -80%
UPMC Health Plan Partners/Select $18.64 ↓ -80%
United Healthcare Medicare $19.24 ↓ -79%
AmeriHealth Caritas Medicare $19.42 ↓ -79%
Cigna Medicare $19.42 ↓ -79%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $19.42 ↓ -79%
PA Health & Wellness Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) $19.42 ↓ -79%
Aetna Medicaid $20.09 ↓ -79%
Health Partners Plans (Jefferson Health Plan) Medicaid/CHIP $20.09 ↓ -79%
United Healthcare Community Plan for Families PA CHIP/PA Medicaid $21.09 ↓ -77%
UPMC Health Plan Managed Medicaid $22.10 ↓ -76%
Geisinger Medicaid $27.92 ↓ -70%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $29.79 ↓ -68%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $31.36 ↓ -66%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $34.24 ↓ -63%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $46.67 ↓ -50%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $78.00 ↓ -17%
Cigna Commercial $78.00 ↓ -17%
United Healthcare Commercial $79.97 ↓ -15%
Aetna Commercial $82.68 ↓ -12%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $85.62 ↓ -9%
Geisinger Commercial $85.80 ↓ -8%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $93.30 ↓ -0%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $124.80 ↑ +33%

Visitor-reported prices

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Warde 3400652 smear complex special stain ova/parasites at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $104.40 $6.49 – $156.60
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $100.20 $8.88 – $141.95
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $100.20 $17.80 – $141.95
UPMC East Monroeville $358.80 $17.78 – $478.40
UPMC Hamot Erie $98.40 $17.78 – $46.67
UPMC Northwest Seneca $158.40 $16.31 – $23.10
UPMC Hanover Hanover $100.20 $8.88 – $28.77
UPMC Horizon-Greenville Greenville $105.00 $16.10 – $33.74

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →