healthcosts.net
Knee MRI (with contrast) at UPMC Magee
300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1952311508
$1,860.60
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.
$3,101.00
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.
$372.18 with UPMC Health Plan vs $3,166.74 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $372.18 | ↓ -80% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $544.90 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $558.18 | ↓ -70% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $704.95 | ↓ -62% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Partners/Select | $772.66 | ↓ -58% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $790.89 | ↓ -57% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $813.41 | ↓ -56% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $813.49 | ↓ -56% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $813.49 | ↓ -56% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $828.55 | ↓ -55% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $1,109.81 | ↓ -40% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $1,116.36 | ↓ -40% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $1,209.39 | ↓ -35% |
| Premier Comp Solutions | Worker's Comp | $1,213.54 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $1,215.59 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $1,240.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $1,240.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,240.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $1,240.40 | ↓ -33% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,278.59 | ↓ -31% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $1,550.50 | ↓ -17% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,576.44 | ↓ -15% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $1,705.55 | ↓ -8% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $1,705.55 | ↓ -8% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,827.77 | ↓ -2% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $2,111.15 | ↑ +13% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $2,170.70 | ↑ +17% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $2,447.79 | ↑ +32% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $2,480.80 | ↑ +33% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $2,635.85 | ↑ +42% |
| Humana | Commercial | $2,635.85 | ↑ +42% |
| Multiplan | PPO | $2,852.92 | ↑ +53% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $3,166.74 | ↑ +70% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Knee MRI (with contrast) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $4,621.20 | $354.83 – $6,546.70 |
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | $5,313.60 | $352.75 – $7,970.40 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $8,004.00 | $369.30 – $11,339.00 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $4,742.40 | $355.70 – $6,718.40 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $5,074.20 | $351.73 – $6,765.60 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $1,948.80 | $201.09 – $2,273.60 |
| UPMC Jameson | New Castle | $3,019.80 | $327.85 – $4,178.24 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $2,713.80 | $403.15 – $3,844.55 |