Sterile water/saline, 500 ml at UPMC Mercy
1400 Locust Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 163914308
$31.80
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.
$53.00
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.
$2.50 with Aetna vs $17.53 with UPMC Health Plan — 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 | $2.50 | ↓ -92% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $2.79 | ↓ -91% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $3.04 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $3.10 | ↓ -90% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $3.40 | ↓ -89% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $3.47 | ↓ -89% |
| Bravo | Medicare | $3.50 | ↓ -89% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $3.80 | ↓ -88% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $4.00 | ↓ -87% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $4.00 | ↓ -87% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $4.40 | ↓ -86% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $4.46 | ↓ -86% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $4.59 | ↓ -86% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $4.59 | ↓ -86% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $4.77 | ↓ -85% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $4.77 | ↓ -85% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $5.00 | ↓ -84% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $5.00 | ↓ -84% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $5.50 | ↓ -83% |
| Cigna Behavioral Health | Commercial | $6.00 | ↓ -81% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $7.50 | ↓ -76% |
| InterGroup | Approved National Affiliated PPO Business | $8.00 | ↓ -75% |
| American Healthcare Group | Commercial | $8.00 | ↓ -75% |
| National Provider Network | PPO | $8.20 | ↓ -74% |
| Multiplan | PPO (inc. Auto and Worker's Compensation) | $9.00 | ↓ -72% |
| Health Payors Organization | Commercial | $9.00 | ↓ -72% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $13.84 | ↓ -56% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $17.53 | ↓ -45% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Sterile water/saline, 500 ml at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Magee | Pittsburgh | $61.20 | $2.96 – $17.53 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $32.55 | $4.50 – $25.44 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $39.60 | $3.00 – $28.34 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $21.60 | $4.50 – $21.51 |
| UPMC Western Psychiatric | Pittsburgh | $32.55 | $4.41 – $4.41 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $13.20 | $2.23 – $17.53 |
| UPMC East | Monroeville | $39.60 | $3.95 – $26.40 |
| UPMC Hamot | Erie | $70.80 | $4.46 – $4.46 |