Insert cath pleura with image at MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center

800 W Meeting St, Lancaster, SC · Muschealth · · NPI 1700359205

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

$775.50

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.

$1,551.00

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.

$784.13 with Bcbs vs $3,089.42 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
Bcbs Employee $784.13 ↑ +1%
Bcbs State Other Commercial Plan $1,045.50 ↑ +35%
Bcbs Medicare Managed Care Plan $1,529.70 ↑ +97%
Aetna Medicare Managed Care Plan $1,560.30 ↑ +101%
Absolute Total Care Ambetter Exchange $1,644.43 ↑ +112%
Molina Exchange $1,682.67 ↑ +117%
Bcbs Lowcountry Blue Exchange $2,103.48 ↑ +171%
Bcbs Bluechoice/Blueoptions Exchange $2,180.11 ↑ +181%
Bcbs Blueessentials Exchange $2,180.11 ↑ +181%
Bcbs Preferred Blue Ppo $2,812.40 ↑ +263%
Unitedhealthcare All Commercial Plans $2,869.00 ↑ +270%
Bcbs Bluechoice Hmo $3,089.42 ↑ +298%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
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Insert cath pleura with image at other South-carolina hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MUSC Health Florence Medical Center Florence $2,645.50 $784.13 – $3,708.00
MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center Camden $1,510.00 $574.59 – $2,136.00
St Francis Downtown Greenville $3,896.40 not published
MUSC Health Chester Medical Center Chester $1,291.50 $777.01 – $4,604.00
MUSC Health Orangeburg Medical Center Orangeburg $1,568.50 $1,464.09 – $1,610.50
MUSC Health Main Campus - Charleston Charleston $1,568.50 $570.92 – $1,610.50
MUSC Health Black River Medical Center Cades $1,134.50 $696.59 – $3,532.00
HCA HEALTHCARE BRIGHTON PARK ER MONCKS CORNER not published $496.65 – $1,660.42

All South-carolina hospitals for this procedure →