healthcosts.net
Tilt table study at UPMC Mercy
1400 Locust Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 163914308
$1,439.40
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,399.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$368.54 with Highmark BCBS of PA vs $2,159.10 with Health Payors Organization — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | $368.54 | ↓ -74% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $421.68 | ↓ -71% |
| UPMC Health Plan | EPO Partners/EPO Select Plan/HMO | $519.11 | ↓ -64% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $531.15 | ↓ -63% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $546.33 | ↓ -62% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $546.33 | ↓ -62% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $546.33 | ↓ -62% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $556.45 | ↓ -61% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $669.32 | ↓ -54% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $730.50 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $743.69 | ↓ -48% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $815.66 | ↓ -43% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $830.04 | ↓ -42% |
| Bravo | Medicare | $839.65 | ↓ -42% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $908.90 | ↓ -37% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $911.62 | ↓ -37% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $959.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $959.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $1,055.56 | ↓ -27% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,111.54 | ↓ -23% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $1,151.02 | ↓ -20% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $1,199.50 | ↓ -17% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $1,319.45 | ↓ -8% |
| Cigna Behavioral Health | Commercial | $1,439.40 | ↑ +0% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,560.54 | ↑ +8% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $1,799.25 | ↑ +25% |
| InterGroup | Approved National Affiliated PPO Business | $1,919.20 | ↑ +33% |
| American Healthcare Group | Commercial | $1,919.20 | ↑ +33% |
| National Provider Network | PPO | $1,967.18 | ↑ +37% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $2,089.94 | ↑ +45% |
| Multiplan | PPO (inc. Auto and Worker's Compensation) | $2,159.10 | ↑ +50% |
| Health Payors Organization | Commercial | $2,159.10 | ↑ +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
Tilt table study at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $4,324.20 | $372.05 – $6,125.95 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $1,915.20 | $128.54 – $2,713.20 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $1,168.80 | $372.05 – $1,655.80 |
| UPMC Somerset | Somerset | $920.40 | $123.19 – $1,150.50 |
| UPMC Williamsport | Williamsport | $2,985.00 | $137.11 – $4,477.50 |