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Injection(s) anesthetic agent(s)/steroid lumb/s transforaminal epidural w/img single (both sides) at UPMC Mercy
1400 Locust Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 163914308
$1,656.60
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.
$2,761.00
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.
$104.54 with UPMC Health Plan vs $3,631.18 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 | Managed Medicaid | $104.54 | ↓ -94% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA Medicaid | $109.30 | ↓ -93% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $140.94 | ↓ -91% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $150.39 | ↓ -91% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $161.97 | ↓ -90% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $399.89 | ↓ -76% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $444.00 | ↓ -73% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $467.91 | ↓ -72% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $586.19 | ↓ -65% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $636.50 | ↓ -62% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $690.25 | ↓ -58% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $707.54 | ↓ -57% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $770.32 | ↓ -53% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $840.72 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $855.91 | ↓ -48% |
| UPMC Health Plan | EPO Partners/EPO Select Plan/HMO | $871.02 | ↓ -47% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $891.22 | ↓ -46% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $916.68 | ↓ -45% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $916.68 | ↓ -45% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $916.68 | ↓ -45% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $938.74 | ↓ -43% |
| Bravo | Medicare | $966.35 | ↓ -42% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $1,049.18 | ↓ -37% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,104.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $1,104.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $1,214.84 | ↓ -27% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,320.22 | ↓ -20% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $1,380.50 | ↓ -17% |
| Cigna Behavioral Health | Commercial | $1,656.60 | ↑ +0% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,767.97 | ↑ +7% |
| InterGroup | Approved National Affiliated PPO Business | $2,208.80 | ↑ +33% |
| American Healthcare Group | Commercial | $2,208.80 | ↑ +33% |
| National Provider Network | PPO | $2,264.02 | ↑ +37% |
| Multiplan | PPO (inc. Auto and Worker's Compensation) | $2,484.90 | ↑ +50% |
| Health Payors Organization | Commercial | $2,484.90 | ↑ +50% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $2,711.43 | ↑ +64% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $3,631.18 | ↑ +119% |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Injection(s) anesthetic agent(s)/steroid lumb/s transforaminal epidural w/img single (both sides) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $2,757.60 | $104.54 – $3,906.60 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $2,703.60 | $104.54 – $3,830.10 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $1,952.40 | $104.54 – $2,765.90 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $2,674.80 | $104.54 – $3,789.30 |
| UPMC Somerset | Somerset | $2,647.20 | $104.54 – $3,309.00 |
| UPMC Williamsport | Williamsport | $1,461.00 | $104.54 – $1,948.00 |