Establish brain cavity shunt at UPMC Magee
300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1952311508
$7,608.00
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.
$12,680.00
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.
$984.09 with Aetna vs $11,665.60 with Multiplan — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Medicare | $984.09 | ↓ -87% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $1,623.68 | ↓ -79% |
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $2,282.40 | ↓ -70% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $2,572.45 | ↓ -66% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $2,833.49 | ↓ -63% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $3,176.22 | ↓ -58% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $4,564.80 | ↓ -40% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $4,697.46 | ↓ -38% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $4,945.20 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $4,970.56 | ↓ -35% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $5,072.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $5,072.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $5,072.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $5,072.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $5,446.36 | ↓ -28% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $6,290.77 | ↓ -17% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $6,340.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $6,340.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $6,974.00 | ↓ -8% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $6,974.00 | ↓ -8% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $7,293.88 | ↓ -4% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $8,876.00 | ↑ +17% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $9,436.20 | ↑ +24% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $10,144.00 | ↑ +33% |
| Humana | Commercial | $10,778.00 | ↑ +42% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $10,778.00 | ↑ +42% |
| Multiplan | PPO | $11,665.60 | ↑ +53% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Establish brain cavity shunt at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $8,881.80 | $1,579.01 – $3,693.28 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $13,183.20 | $998.40 – $3,762.08 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | not published | $1,608.36 – $3,517.88 |
| WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital | Chambersburg | not published | $970.00 – $3,332.27 |