Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center
800 W Meeting St, Lancaster, SC · Muschealth · · NPI 1700359205
$3,359.50
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.
$6,719.00
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.
$609.59 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 →
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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 | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $609.59 | ↓ -82% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $621.78 | ↓ -81% |
| Absolute Total Care | Ambetter Exchange | $655.31 | ↓ -80% |
| Molina | Exchange | $670.55 | ↓ -80% |
| Bcbs | Employee | $784.13 | ↓ -77% |
| Bcbs | State Other Commercial Plan | $1,045.50 | ↓ -69% |
| Bcbs | Lowcountry Blue Exchange | $2,103.48 | ↓ -37% |
| Bcbs | Bluechoice/Blueoptions Exchange | $2,180.11 | ↓ -35% |
| Bcbs | Blueessentials Exchange | $2,180.11 | ↓ -35% |
| Bcbs | Preferred Blue Ppo | $2,812.40 | ↓ -16% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $2,869.00 | ↓ -15% |
| Bcbs | Bluechoice Hmo | $3,089.42 | ↓ -8% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at other South-carolina hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MUSC Health Florence Medical Center | Florence | $2,645.50 | $583.44 – $3,708.00 |
| MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center | Camden | $1,241.50 | $574.59 – $2,136.00 |
| St Francis Downtown | Greenville | $4,109.76 | $600.86 – $606.87 |
| St Francis Eastside | Greenville | $1,404.00 | not published |
| MUSC Health Chester Medical Center | Chester | $970.00 | $606.36 – $4,604.00 |
| MUSC Health Orangeburg Medical Center | Orangeburg | $1,568.50 | $583.44 – $641.78 |
| MUSC Health Main Campus - Charleston | Charleston | $1,568.50 | $570.92 – $641.78 |
| MUSC Health Black River Medical Center | Cades | $1,134.50 | $583.44 – $3,532.00 |