Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital
252 S. 4th St., Lebanon, PA · Wellspan · · NPI 1407928500
$1,308.00
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.
$1,635.00
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.
$110.88 with UPMC_Medicaid vs $3,432.00 with Blue_Cross — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC_Medicaid | All_Plans | $110.88 | ↓ -92% |
| Geisinger_Medicaid | All_Plans | $110.88 | ↓ -92% |
| Health_Partners_Medicaid | All_Other_Plans | $110.88 | ↓ -92% |
| Highmark_Wholecare_Gateway_Medicaid | All_Plans | $110.88 | ↓ -92% |
| PA_Health_&_Wellness_Medicaid | All_Plans | $110.88 | ↓ -92% |
| Amerihealth_Caritas_Medicaid | All_Plans | $125.95 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna_Better_Health_Kids | All_Plans | $301.58 | ↓ -77% |
| Blue_Cross_BlueJourney_Medicare | All_Plans | $610.73 | ↓ -53% |
| Highmark_Medicare | All_Plans | $616.84 | ↓ -53% |
| Aetna_Advantra_Medicare | All_Plans | $629.05 | ↓ -52% |
| Aetna_Medicare | All_Plans | $629.05 | ↓ -52% |
| United_Medicare | ISNP_DSNP_Plans | $641.27 | ↓ -51% |
| Geisinger_Gold_Medicare | All_Plans | $641.27 | ↓ -51% |
| Devoted_Medicare | All_Plans | $641.27 | ↓ -51% |
| Highmark_Wholecare_Gateway_Medicare | All_Plans | $644.01 | ↓ -51% |
| UPMC_Medicare | UPMC_for_Life_Community_HealthChoices | $644.32 | ↓ -51% |
| UPMC_Medicare | UPMC_for_Life_Complete_Care | $644.32 | ↓ -51% |
| Amerihealth_Medicare | All_Plans | $644.32 | ↓ -51% |
| Jefferson_Health_Medicare_Advantage | All_Plans | $659.59 | ↓ -50% |
| PA_Health_&_Wellness_Medicare | All_Plans | $659.59 | ↓ -50% |
| Aetna | All_Plans | $915.60 | ↓ -30% |
| Highmark | Higmark_Healthy_Kids | $946.63 | ↓ -28% |
| WellSpan_Capital_Blue_Cross | All_Plans | $981.00 | ↓ -25% |
| UPMC | Employees_And_Dependents | $981.00 | ↓ -25% |
| UPMC | UPMC_For_Kids | $981.00 | ↓ -25% |
| Geisinger | All_Plans | $981.00 | ↓ -25% |
| First_Health_Network | All_Plans | $1,007.16 | ↓ -23% |
| Health_Partners_Medicaid | Kidz_Partners | $1,007.70 | ↓ -23% |
| Cigna | All_Plans | $1,043.46 | ↓ -20% |
| United_Medicaid | Community_Plan_For_Kids | $1,068.78 | ↓ -18% |
| PHC | All_Plans | $1,308.00 | ↑ +0% |
| United_Healthcare | All_Plans | $1,533.63 | ↑ +17% |
| Highmark | Choice_Blue_PPO | $1,847.28 | ↑ +41% |
| Highmark | Performance_Blue | $1,847.28 | ↑ +41% |
| Highmark | Blue_Cross_High_Performance_Network | $1,847.28 | ↑ +41% |
| Highmark | All_Other_Plans | $2,225.68 | ↑ +70% |
| Blue_Cross | Capital_Cares_4_kids | $2,402.40 | ↑ +84% |
| Blue_Cross | Capital_Blue_Performance_PPO | $2,571.00 | ↑ +97% |
| Blue_Cross | Capital_Blue_Cross_Healthy_Benefits_PPO | $2,745.60 | ↑ +110% |
| Blue_Cross | All_Other_Plans | $3,432.00 | ↑ +162% |
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 Cole | Coudersport | $1,092.60 | $42.41 – $863.16 |
| 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 |