Artery x-rays chest at MUSC Health Chester Medical Center
1 Medical Park Drive, Chester, SC · Muschealth · · NPI 1558937474
$852.00
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.
$1,704.00
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.
$346.69 with Aetna vs $3,357.27 with Molina — 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 | All Commercial Plans | $346.69 | ↓ -59% |
| Bcbs | Employee | $690.02 | ↓ -19% |
| Bcbs | State Other Commercial Plan | $920.02 | ↑ +8% |
| Bcbs | Bluechoice Exchange | $928.18 | ↑ +9% |
| Bcbs | Blueessentials Exchange | $928.18 | ↑ +9% |
| Bcbs | Lowcountry Blue Exchange | $1,505.42 | ↑ +77% |
| Bcbs | Preferred Blue Ppo | $1,593.29 | ↑ +87% |
| Bcbs | Bluechoice Hmo | $1,750.22 | ↑ +105% |
| Bcbs | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $3,052.06 | ↑ +258% |
| Humana | Medicare Managed Care - Ppo | $3,099.00 | ↑ +264% |
| Clover Health | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $3,113.10 | ↑ +265% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $3,129.68 | ↑ +267% |
| Absolute Total Care | Ambetter Exchange | $3,280.96 | ↑ +285% |
| Molina | Exchange | $3,357.27 | ↑ +294% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Artery x-rays chest at other South-carolina hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center | Camden | $1,613.00 | $346.69 – $3,357.27 |
| St Francis Downtown | Greenville | $7,288.80 | not published |
| MUSC Health Orangeburg Medical Center | Orangeburg | $2,508.50 | $2,936.70 – $3,230.37 |
| MUSC Health Main Campus - Charleston | Charleston | $2,508.50 | $516.66 – $3,230.37 |
| MUSC Health Black River Medical Center | Cades | $1,513.00 | $649.30 – $3,230.37 |
| MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center | Lancaster | $2,815.00 | $690.02 – $3,375.15 |
| HCA HEALTHCARE BRIGHTON PARK ER | MONCKS CORNER | not published | $110.16 – $5,508.13 |
| LIVE OAK MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS | Ladson | not published | $110.16 – $5,508.13 |