Zoledronic acid 4 mg/5 ml intravenous solution at UPMC Altoona

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

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

$1,393.80

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.

$2,323.00

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.

$3.19 with UPMC Health Plan vs $157.22 with Highmark BCBS of PA — 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 Health Plan Managed Medicaid $3.19 ↓ -100%
PA Health & Wellness Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO $5.06 ↓ -100%
Geisinger Medicaid $5.06 ↓ -100%
AmeriHealth Caritas Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid $5.06 ↓ -100%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicaid $5.06 ↓ -100%
UPMC Health Plan Commercial $6.22 ↓ -100%
UPMC Health Plan CHIP $8.37 ↓ -99%
United Healthcare Commercial $16.80 ↓ -99%
UPMC Work Partners Workers Comp $66.92 ↓ -95%
Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) Medicare $90.00 ↓ -94%
Preferred Healthcare System PPO $90.00 ↓ -94%
Cigna Commercial $90.00 ↓ -94%
Aetna Commercial $95.40 ↓ -93%
Geisinger Commercial $99.00 ↓ -93%
Private Health Care Systems PPO $144.00 ↓ -90%
Highmark BCBS of PA Community Blue Medicare Advantage/Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage $157.22 ↓ -89%

Visitor-reported prices

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Zoledronic acid 4 mg/5 ml intravenous solution at other Pennsylvania hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UPMC Bedford Everett $4,010.40 $3.19 – $1,203.30
UPMC Carlisle Carlisle $110.40 $0.14 – $10.17
UPMC Cole Coudersport $2,229.60 $5.06 – $384.80
UPMC Community Osteopathic Harrisburg $110.40 $0.20 – $261.78
UPMC East Monroeville $4,010.40 $3.19 – $1,069.60
UPMC Hamot Erie $4,582.80 $3.19 – $73.26
UPMC Northwest Seneca $1,069.60 $0.70 – $333.99
UPMC Hanover Hanover $110.40 $0.67 – $10.17

All Pennsylvania hospitals for this procedure →