Conversion ext bil drg cath at MUSC Health Chester Medical Center
1 Medical Park Drive, Chester, SC · Muschealth · · NPI 1558937474
$4,624.00
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.
$9,248.00
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.
$3,151.04 with Bcbs vs $29,543.00 with Cigna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bcbs | Employee | $3,151.04 | ↓ -32% |
| Bcbs | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $3,460.86 | ↓ -25% |
| Humana | Medicare Managed Care - Ppo | $3,514.09 | ↓ -24% |
| Clover Health | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $3,530.08 | ↓ -24% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $3,548.88 | ↓ -23% |
| Absolute Total Care | Ambetter Exchange | $3,720.42 | ↓ -20% |
| Molina | Exchange | $3,806.95 | ↓ -18% |
| Bcbs | Bluechoice Exchange | $4,121.47 | ↓ -11% |
| Bcbs | Blueessentials Exchange | $4,121.47 | ↓ -11% |
| Bcbs | State Other Commercial Plan | $4,201.38 | ↓ -9% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $5,192.00 | ↑ +12% |
| Bcbs | Preferred Blue Ppo | $7,074.78 | ↑ +53% |
| Bcbs | Bluechoice Hmo | $7,771.63 | ↑ +68% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $10,275.00 | ↑ +122% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $29,543.00 | ↑ +539% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Conversion ext bil drg cath at other South-carolina hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MUSC Health Florence Medical Center | Florence | $3,492.00 | $3,151.04 – $12,276.00 |
| St Francis Downtown | Greenville | $4,269.60 | not published |
| MUSC Health Orangeburg Medical Center | Orangeburg | $4,334.00 | $3,330.05 – $3,663.06 |
| MUSC Health Main Campus - Charleston | Charleston | $4,334.00 | $2,294.16 – $3,663.06 |
| MUSC Health Black River Medical Center | Cades | $3,192.00 | $2,799.15 – $11,692.00 |
| HCA HEALTHCARE BRIGHTON PARK ER | MONCKS CORNER | not published | $4,562.70 – $4,562.70 |
| LIVE OAK MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS | Ladson | not published | $4,562.70 – $4,562.70 |
| MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center | Camden | not published | $2,308.91 – $11,769.00 |