healthcosts.net
Tilt table study at UPMC Presbyterian
200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 119473412
$1,915.20
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.
$3,192.00
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.
$128.54 with United Healthcare Community Plan for Families vs $2,713.20 with InterGroup — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $128.54 | ↓ -93% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Medicare Advantage | $372.05 | ↓ -81% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $546.33 | ↓ -71% |
| Cigna Lifesource | Medicare Transplant | $546.33 | ↓ -71% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $546.33 | ↓ -71% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $546.33 | ↓ -71% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $546.33 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $556.45 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $556.45 | ↓ -71% |
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $574.56 | ↓ -70% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $922.27 | ↓ -52% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,235.04 | ↓ -36% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,733.93 | ↓ -9% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $1,755.60 | ↓ -8% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $1,861.00 | ↓ -3% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $2,074.80 | ↑ +8% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $2,234.40 | ↑ +17% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $2,322.16 | ↑ +21% |
| Fidelis | Medicare | $2,394.00 | ↑ +25% |
| InterGroup | InterGroup Services Corporation | $2,394.00 | ↑ +25% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $2,470.09 | ↑ +29% |
| Health Coalition Partners | Intergroup | $2,553.60 | ↑ +33% |
| Multiplan | PPO | $2,553.60 | ↑ +33% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $2,553.60 | ↑ +33% |
| SelectCare | Commercial | $2,553.60 | ↑ +33% |
| Health Payors Organization | Commercial | $2,713.20 | ↑ +42% |
| Humana | Commercial | $2,713.20 | ↑ +42% |
| InterGroup | Approved National Affiliated PPO Business | $2,713.20 | ↑ +42% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | not published by hospital | — |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
| Multiplan | Worker's Compensation | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Tilt table study at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | $1,439.40 | $368.54 – $2,159.10 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $4,324.20 | $372.05 – $6,125.95 |
| 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 |