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Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at UPMC Mercy
1400 Locust Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 163914308
$2,577.00
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.
$4,295.00
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.
$403.71 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $3,865.50 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 | $403.71 | ↓ -84% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $491.36 | ↓ -81% |
| UPMC Health Plan | EPO Partners/EPO Select Plan/HMO | $604.88 | ↓ -77% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $618.91 | ↓ -76% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $636.60 | ↓ -75% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $636.60 | ↓ -75% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $636.60 | ↓ -75% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $648.38 | ↓ -75% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $675.24 | ↓ -74% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $909.24 | ↓ -65% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $988.69 | ↓ -62% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $1,198.31 | ↓ -53% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,217.61 | ↓ -53% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,221.53 | ↓ -53% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $1,307.83 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $1,331.45 | ↓ -48% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $1,460.30 | ↓ -43% |
| Bravo | Medicare | $1,503.25 | ↓ -42% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $1,632.10 | ↓ -37% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,718.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $1,718.00 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,867.38 | ↓ -28% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $1,889.80 | ↓ -27% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $2,147.50 | ↓ -17% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $2,362.25 | ↓ -8% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $2,500.81 | ↓ -3% |
| Cigna Behavioral Health | Commercial | $2,577.00 | ↑ +0% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $3,221.25 | ↑ +25% |
| InterGroup | Approved National Affiliated PPO Business | $3,436.00 | ↑ +33% |
| American Healthcare Group | Commercial | $3,436.00 | ↑ +33% |
| National Provider Network | PPO | $3,521.90 | ↑ +37% |
| Multiplan | PPO (inc. Auto and Worker's Compensation) | $3,865.50 | ↑ +50% |
| Health Payors Organization | Commercial | $3,865.50 | ↑ +50% |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
| 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 Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $4,057.20 | $407.56 – $5,747.70 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $3,788.40 | $407.56 – $5,366.90 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $1,513.80 | $407.56 – $2,144.55 |
| UPMC Muncy | Muncy | $1,422.60 | $355.65 – $1,896.80 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $1,509.00 | $534.56 – $2,137.75 |
| UPMC Somerset | Somerset | $2,304.60 | $185.09 – $892.40 |
| UPMC Wellsboro | Wellsboro | $1,542.40 | $347.04 – $1,735.20 |
| UPMC Williamsport | Williamsport | $1,275.00 | $595.22 – $1,700.00 |