Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at UPMC Cole
1001 East Second Street, Coudersport, PA · UPMC · · NPI 110485184
$1,092.60
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.
$1,821.00
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.
$42.41 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $1,686.25 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 | $42.41 | ↓ -96% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $42.84 | ↓ -96% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $42.84 | ↓ -96% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $42.84 | ↓ -96% |
| Humana | Medicare | $43.27 | ↓ -96% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC) | $43.91 | ↓ -96% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicaid | $43.91 | ↓ -96% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $44.37 | ↓ -96% |
| Cigna | Medicare | $44.98 | ↓ -96% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP | $46.27 | ↓ -96% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $46.27 | ↓ -96% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $46.66 | ↓ -96% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $61.20 | ↓ -94% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid | $84.15 | ↓ -92% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $84.15 | ↓ -92% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $107.10 | ↓ -90% |
| Geisinger | Commercial | $114.75 | ↓ -89% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $122.40 | ↓ -89% |
| Humana | Commercial | $122.40 | ↓ -89% |
| Galaxy Health Plan | Commercial | $122.40 | ↓ -89% |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | $122.40 | ↓ -89% |
| Multiplan | PPO/Auto | $122.40 | ↓ -89% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $125.46 | ↓ -89% |
| BCBS of Western NY | Medicare Advantage | $771.51 | ↓ -29% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $863.16 | ↓ -21% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,221.53 | ↑ +12% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,384.75 | ↑ +27% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,384.75 | ↑ +27% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,686.25 | ↑ +54% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $1,686.25 | ↑ +54% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $1,635.00 | $403.71 – $2,180.00 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $2,040.00 | $212.67 – $3,060.00 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $2,304.60 | $64.39 – $1,016.56 |
| UPMC Community Osteopathic | Harrisburg | $2,304.60 | $94.00 – $1,221.53 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $2,153.40 | $407.56 – $2,871.20 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $1,974.60 | $403.71 – $863.16 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $1,509.00 | $534.56 – $863.16 |
| UPMC Hanover | Hanover | $2,304.60 | $584.71 – $1,221.53 |