Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at UPMC Magee
300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1952311508
$2,329.80
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.
$3,883.00
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.
$407.56 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $3,572.36 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $407.56 | ↓ -83% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $551.66 | ↓ -76% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Partners/Select | $604.65 | ↓ -74% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $618.91 | ↓ -73% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $636.54 | ↓ -73% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $636.60 | ↓ -73% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $636.60 | ↓ -73% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $648.38 | ↓ -72% |
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $698.94 | ↓ -70% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $863.16 | ↓ -63% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $1,108.99 | ↓ -52% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,179.10 | ↓ -49% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,221.53 | ↓ -48% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,367.08 | ↓ -41% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $1,397.88 | ↓ -40% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $1,514.37 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $1,522.14 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $1,553.20 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,553.20 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $1,553.20 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $1,553.20 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,579.04 | ↓ -32% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $1,830.82 | ↓ -21% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $1,941.50 | ↓ -17% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $2,135.65 | ↓ -8% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $2,135.65 | ↓ -8% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $2,368.57 | ↑ +2% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $2,718.10 | ↑ +17% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $3,106.40 | ↑ +33% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $3,300.55 | ↑ +42% |
| Humana | Commercial | $3,300.55 | ↑ +42% |
| Multiplan | PPO | $3,572.36 | ↑ +53% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | 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 Mercy | Pittsburgh | $2,577.00 | $403.71 – $988.69 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $4,057.20 | $407.56 – $1,003.67 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $3,788.40 | $407.56 – $1,149.64 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $1,513.80 | $407.56 – $863.16 |
| 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 |