healthcosts.net
Colonoscopy w/decompression at UPMC Mercy
1400 Locust Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 163914308
$2,786.40
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.
$4,644.00
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.
$176.21 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $4,179.60 with Health Payors Organization — 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 | $176.21 | ↓ -94% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $396.87 | ↓ -86% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $531.47 | ↓ -81% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $724.57 | ↓ -74% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $815.08 | ↓ -71% |
| UPMC Health Plan | EPO Partners/EPO Select Plan/HMO | $891.98 | ↓ -68% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $912.67 | ↓ -67% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $938.75 | ↓ -66% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $938.75 | ↓ -66% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $938.75 | ↓ -66% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $956.13 | ↓ -66% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $1,091.57 | ↓ -61% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $1,295.68 | ↓ -53% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $1,414.10 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $1,439.64 | ↓ -48% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $1,578.96 | ↓ -43% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,625.40 | ↓ -42% |
| Bravo | Medicare | $1,625.40 | ↓ -42% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $1,764.72 | ↓ -37% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,857.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $1,857.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $2,043.36 | ↓ -27% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $2,089.80 | ↓ -25% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $2,322.00 | ↓ -17% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $2,554.20 | ↓ -8% |
| Cigna Behavioral Health | Commercial | $2,786.40 | ↑ +0% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $3,483.00 | ↑ +25% |
| InterGroup | Approved National Affiliated PPO Business | $3,715.20 | ↑ +33% |
| American Healthcare Group | Commercial | $3,715.20 | ↑ +33% |
| National Provider Network | PPO | $3,808.08 | ↑ +37% |
| Multiplan | PPO (inc. Auto and Worker's Compensation) | $4,179.60 | ↑ +50% |
| Health Payors Organization | Commercial | $4,179.60 | ↑ +50% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | not published by hospital | — |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Colonoscopy w/decompression at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $2,595.60 | $177.89 – $3,677.10 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $3,436.80 | $177.89 – $4,868.80 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $2,448.60 | $177.89 – $3,468.85 |
| UPMC Wellsboro | Wellsboro | $3,816.80 | $858.78 – $4,293.90 |
| UPMC Williamsport | Williamsport | $3,156.60 | $877.73 – $4,734.90 |