Video Swallow Study (Modified Barium Swallow) at UPMC St. Margaret
815 Freeport Road, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1790795359
$779.40
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$1,299.00
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.
$50.60 with United Healthcare Community Plan for Families vs $1,104.15 with Humana — 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 | $50.60 | ↓ -94% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $50.60 | ↓ -94% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $68.22 | ↓ -91% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $71.81 | ↓ -91% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $76.06 | ↓ -90% |
| PA Health & Wellness | PA Medicaid HMO | $78.39 | ↓ -90% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $90.07 | ↓ -88% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $146.54 | ↓ -81% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $178.21 | ↓ -77% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $183.28 | ↓ -76% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $183.30 | ↓ -76% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $186.69 | ↓ -76% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $197.15 | ↓ -75% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $200.54 | ↓ -74% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $260.70 | ↓ -67% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $268.58 | ↓ -66% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $327.35 | ↓ -58% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $349.15 | ↓ -55% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $355.93 | ↓ -54% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $363.72 | ↓ -53% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $363.72 | ↓ -53% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $493.62 | ↓ -37% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $519.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $519.60 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $537.17 | ↓ -31% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $909.30 | ↑ +17% |
| SelectCare | Commercial | $1,039.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $1,039.20 | ↑ +33% |
| Humana | Commercial | $1,104.15 | ↑ +42% |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Video Swallow Study (Modified Barium Swallow) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Magee | Pittsburgh | $903.60 | $50.60 – $197.15 |
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | $873.00 | $50.60 – $196.85 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $804.00 | $50.60 – $229.24 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $1,312.80 | $33.60 – $228.90 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $793.80 | $28.00 – $1,058.40 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $640.80 | $48.30 – $961.20 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $427.80 | $36.68 – $606.05 |
| UPMC Cole | Coudersport | $385.80 | $48.30 – $514.40 |