Thoracotomy w/expl at Baylor St Luke's Medical Center
1101 Bates Avenue, Houston, TX · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1184622847
$181.30
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.
$518.00
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.
$56.98 with Wellpoint vs $9,158.00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|CHIP | $56.98 | ↓ -69% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $56.98 | ↓ -69% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $56.98 | ↓ -69% |
| CHC | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $56.98 | ↓ -69% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $56.98 | ↓ -69% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $56.98 | ↓ -69% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|All Other Plans | $58.12 | ↓ -68% |
| UHC | Medicaid|CHIP | $58.12 | ↓ -68% |
| UHC | Medicaid|STARKIDS | $58.12 | ↓ -68% |
| BCBS | Medicaid|All Plans | $59.83 | ↓ -67% |
| TCHP | Medicaid|STAR | $76.36 | ↓ -58% |
| CHC | Medicaid|STAR | $76.36 | ↓ -58% |
| Wellpoint | Medicaid|STAR | $76.36 | ↓ -58% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STAR | $78.07 | ↓ -57% |
| OPTUM | Medicare|All Plans | $139.86 | ↓ -23% |
| UHC | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $177.78 | ↓ -2% |
| UNITED | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $177.78 | ↓ -2% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STAR | $187.42 | ↑ +3% |
| TCHPCHIP | Medicaid|HMO | $212.38 | ↑ +17% |
| TCH | Commercial|Transplant | $233.10 | ↑ +29% |
| United | Commercial|Optum | $243.46 | ↑ +34% |
| Shell | Commercial|All Plans | $259.00 | ↑ +43% |
| TEXASTRUECHOICE | Medicaid|CHIP | $284.90 | ↑ +57% |
| CHC | Medicaid|HMO | $284.90 | ↑ +57% |
| CHC | Medicaid|CHIP | $284.90 | ↑ +57% |
| Cigna Lifesource | Commercial|Transplant | $310.80 | ↑ +71% |
| Independent Med System | Commercial|All Plans | $310.80 | ↑ +71% |
| Humana | Commercial|Transplant | $336.70 | ↑ +86% |
| PHCS Savility | Commercial|PPO | $336.70 | ↑ +86% |
| Coventry | Commercial|PPO | $336.70 | ↑ +86% |
| PHCS | Commercial|PPO | $336.70 | ↑ +86% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $336.70 | ↑ +86% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|PPO | $362.60 | ↑ +100% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Transplant | $362.60 | ↑ +100% |
| Interlink | Commercial|Transplant | $362.60 | ↑ +100% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $362.60 | ↑ +100% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $388.50 | ↑ +114% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Transplant | $393.68 | ↑ +117% |
| OPTUM | Medicaid|STARPLUS | $427.98 | ↑ +136% |
| USA Health Network | Commercial|All Plans | $440.30 | ↑ +143% |
| MHealth Network | Commercial|PPO | $518.00 | ↑ +186% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|Premier | $564.78 | ↑ +212% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|MyBlue Health Exchange | $775.51 | ↑ +328% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|Blue Advantage Exchange | $910.39 | ↑ +402% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|Transplant | $1,630.30 | ↑ +799% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|HMO | $1,812.34 | ↑ +900% |
| BCBS - TX | Commercial|PPO Trad | $1,930.36 | ↑ +965% |
| KelseyCare | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,404.80 | ↑ +1226% |
| Humana | Commercial|HMO | $2,700.00 | ↑ +1389% |
| Humana | Commercial|PPO | $2,700.00 | ↑ +1389% |
| United | Commercial|Exchange | $3,128.00 | ↑ +1625% |
| Cigna | Commercial|Surefit | $3,309.00 | ↑ +1725% |
| Cigna | Commercial|HMO | $3,646.00 | ↑ +1911% |
| United | Commercial|Charter | $4,211.00 | ↑ +2223% |
| United | Commercial|PPO | $4,680.00 | ↑ +2481% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $4,680.00 | ↑ +2481% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $9,158.00 | ↑ +4951% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Thoracotomy w/expl at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Luke's Health - The Vintage Hospital | Houston | $181.30 | $41.44 – $518.00 |
| HCA HOUSTON MEDICAL CENTER | Houston | not published | $7,729.85 – $7,729.85 |
| HCA HOUSTON WEST | HOUSTON | not published | $7,729.85 – $7,729.85 |
| HCA HOUSTON TOMBALL | HOUSTON | not published | $7,729.85 – $7,729.85 |
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $2,045.17 | $579.47 – $2,897.33 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BRENHAM | Brenham | $1,298.96 | $267.37 – $1,948.44 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BUDA | Suite 110 | $1,298.96 | $259.79 – $1,623.70 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - CENTENNIAL | Frisco | $2,045.17 | $545.38 – $2,897.33 |