Electrolyte panel 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

$127.00

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.

$254.00

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.

$4.01 with Unitedhealthcare vs $69.42 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
Unitedhealthcare All Commercial Plans $4.01 ↓ -97%
Bcbs Medicare Managed Care Plan $7.01 ↓ -94%
Humana Medicare Managed Care - Ppo $7.08 ↓ -94%
Clover Health Medicare Managed Care Plan $7.15 ↓ -94%
Aetna Medicare Managed Care Plan $7.15 ↓ -94%
Absolute Total Care Ambetter Exchange $7.54 ↓ -94%
Molina Exchange $7.71 ↓ -94%
Bcbs Employee $22.32 ↓ -82%
Bcbs State Other Commercial Plan $29.76 ↓ -77%
Bcbs Blueessentials Exchange $29.90 ↓ -76%
Bcbs Bluechoice Exchange $29.90 ↓ -76%
Aetna All Commercial Plans $33.26 ↓ -74%
Bcbs Preferred Blue Ppo $51.32 ↓ -60%
Bcbs Bluechoice Hmo $56.38 ↓ -56%
Bcbs Lowcountry Blue Exchange $69.42 ↓ -45%

Visitor-reported prices

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Electrolyte panel at other South-carolina hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
HCA HEALTHCARE BRIGHTON PARK ER MONCKS CORNER $79.00 $5.98 – $26.78
LIVE OAK MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS Ladson $79.00 $5.98 – $26.78
MUSC Health Florence Medical Center Florence $198.50 $4.02 – $7.71
MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center Camden $91.50 $7.01 – $7.71
St Francis Eastside Greenville $184.80 not published
MUSC Health Orangeburg Medical Center Orangeburg $27.00 $7.01 – $7.71
MUSC Health Main Campus - Charleston Charleston $27.00 $7.01 – $16.64
MUSC Health Black River Medical Center Cades $22.00 $4.02 – $20.92

All South-carolina hospitals for this procedure →