Brain image w/flow 4 + views at MUSC Health Chester Medical Center

1 Medical Park Drive, Chester, SC · Muschealth · · NPI 1558937474

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Apr 1, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$632.50

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$1,265.00

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$470.25 with Bcbs vs $1,209.91 with Bcbs — 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 →

Payer
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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
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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
Bcbs Employee $470.25 ↓ -26%
Bcbs Medicare Managed Care Plan $524.84 ↓ -17%
Humana Medicare Managed Care - Ppo $532.91 ↓ -16%
Clover Health Medicare Managed Care Plan $535.34 ↓ -15%
Aetna Medicare Managed Care Plan $538.19 ↓ -15%
Absolute Total Care Ambetter Exchange $564.20 ↓ -11%
Molina Exchange $577.33 ↓ -9%
Bcbs State Other Commercial Plan $627.00 ↓ -1%
Bcbs Blueessentials Exchange $636.85 ↑ +1%
Bcbs Bluechoice Exchange $636.85 ↑ +1%
Aetna All Commercial Plans $889.99 ↑ +41%
Bcbs Preferred Blue Ppo $1,093.20 ↑ +73%
Bcbs Bluechoice Hmo $1,200.87 ↑ +90%
Bcbs Lowcountry Blue Exchange $1,209.91 ↑ +91%

Visitor-reported prices

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Brain image w/flow 4 + views at other South-carolina hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MUSC Health Florence Medical Center Florence $2,895.50 $470.25 – $555.50
MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center Camden $535.50 $356.77 – $577.33
St Francis Downtown Greenville $1,255.20 not published
MUSC Health Orangeburg Medical Center Orangeburg $587.00 $505.00 – $555.50
MUSC Health Main Campus - Charleston Charleston $587.00 $354.49 – $555.50
MUSC Health Black River Medical Center Cades $447.00 $445.50 – $555.50
MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center Lancaster $4,025.00 $470.25 – $580.40
HCA HEALTHCARE BRIGHTON PARK ER MONCKS CORNER not published $60.53 – $941.97

All South-carolina hospitals for this procedure →