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Lumbar Spinal Fusion (single level) at UPMC Cole
1001 East Second Street, Coudersport, PA · UPMC · · NPI 110485184
$2,020.20
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$3,367.00
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.
$401.11 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $8,568.18 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 →
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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/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage/Together Blue Medicare Advantage | $401.11 | ↓ -80% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $405.16 | ↓ -80% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $405.16 | ↓ -80% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $405.16 | ↓ -80% |
| Humana | Medicare | $409.21 | ↓ -80% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC) | $415.29 | ↓ -79% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicaid | $415.29 | ↓ -79% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $419.63 | ↓ -79% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $425.42 | ↓ -79% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP | $437.57 | ↓ -78% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $437.57 | ↓ -78% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $441.33 | ↓ -78% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $578.80 | ↓ -71% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $795.85 | ↓ -61% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $795.85 | ↓ -61% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $1,012.90 | ↓ -50% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $1,085.25 | ↓ -46% |
| Galaxy Health Plan | Commercial | $1,157.60 | ↓ -43% |
| Humana | Commercial | $1,157.60 | ↓ -43% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $1,157.60 | ↓ -43% |
| Multiplan | PPO/Auto | $1,157.60 | ↓ -43% |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | $1,157.60 | ↓ -43% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $1,186.54 | ↓ -41% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,610.78 | ↓ -20% |
| BCBS of Western NY | Medicare Advantage | $2,325.85 | ↑ +15% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $4,018.01 | ↑ +99% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $7,036.18 | ↑ +248% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $7,036.18 | ↑ +248% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $8,568.18 | ↑ +324% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $8,568.18 | ↑ +324% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lumbar Spinal Fusion (single level) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC East | Monroeville | not published | $920.19 – $19,285.98 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | not published | $1,999.85 – $25,500.07 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | not published | $1,610.78 – $18,935.33 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | not published | $1,016.56 – $19,537.11 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | not published | $1,016.56 – $28,108.82 |
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | not published | $890.42 – $19,285.98 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | not published | $912.80 – $19,285.98 |
| UPMC Somerset | Somerset | not published | $892.40 – $18,933.57 |