Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at HCA HOUSTON MEDICAL CENTER
1313 Hermann Dr, Houston, TX · HCA Houston Healthcare · · NPI 1073043592
$4,121.72
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.
$4,121.72
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.
$97.56 with Amerigroup vs $3,503.46 with Multiplan — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amerigroup | MGMCD | $97.56 | ↓ -98% |
| Amerigroup | MCDCHIPBH | $97.56 | ↓ -98% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | STAR+PLUS | $99.90 | ↓ -98% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | CHIP | $99.90 | ↓ -98% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | STAR | $99.90 | ↓ -98% |
| Community Health Choice MCD | CHIPPerinatal | $99.90 | ↓ -98% |
| United | MGMCD | $101.90 | ↓ -98% |
| Molina Healthcare | STARKIDS | $107.32 | ↓ -97% |
| Molina Healthcare | STAR | $107.32 | ↓ -97% |
| Molina Healthcare | CHIP | $107.32 | ↓ -97% |
| Molina Healthcare | STARPLUS | $107.32 | ↓ -97% |
| Aetna Better Health | MGMCD | $107.89 | ↓ -97% |
| Humana | MCD | $121.95 | ↓ -97% |
| Superior Health Plan | STARPLUS | $247.30 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | STAR | $247.30 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | CHPFC | $247.30 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | CHIP | $247.30 | ↓ -94% |
| Superior Health Plan | STARKids | $247.30 | ↓ -94% |
| Cigna | CSN | $258.28 | ↓ -94% |
| Cigna | OpenAccessPlus | $279.52 | ↓ -93% |
| BCBS | MyBlueHealth | $320.71 | ↓ -92% |
| Cigna | PPO | $332.27 | ↓ -92% |
| United | NarrowNetworkIndivExchange | $339.25 | ↓ -92% |
| United | SmallGroup | $401.74 | ↓ -90% |
| United | AllPayerAppendix | $401.74 | ↓ -90% |
| BCBS | BAV | $406.35 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna | NBHMO | $597.58 | ↓ -86% |
| Aetna | NBPOS | $597.58 | ↓ -86% |
| Aetna | NBPPO | $597.58 | ↓ -86% |
| BCBS | HMO | $619.55 | ↓ -85% |
| Aetna | COMMHMO | $635.84 | ↓ -85% |
| Aetna | COMMPOS | $635.84 | ↓ -85% |
| Aetna | COMMPPO | $635.84 | ↓ -85% |
| BCBS | EPOSOA | $663.28 | ↓ -84% |
| United | OptionsPPO | $692.45 | ↓ -83% |
| BCBS | PPO | $705.19 | ↓ -83% |
| Aetna | OONPPO | $747.59 | ↓ -82% |
| Aetna | OONPOS | $747.59 | ↓ -82% |
| Aetna | OONHMO | $747.59 | ↓ -82% |
| Aetna | ASAPPO | $808.32 | ↓ -80% |
| Aetna | ASAPOS | $808.32 | ↓ -80% |
| Aetna | ASAHMO | $808.32 | ↓ -80% |
| Healthcare Highways | NarrowNetwork | $1,051.04 | ↓ -74% |
| Evry Health | BroadNetwork | $1,125.23 | ↓ -73% |
| Humana | HMO | $1,365.53 | ↓ -67% |
| Humana | PPO | $1,365.53 | ↓ -67% |
| BCBS | Traditional | $1,442.60 | ↓ -65% |
| Curative Administrators | COMM | $1,648.69 | ↓ -60% |
| Christus (USFHP) | TRICARE | $1,648.69 | ↓ -60% |
| United | GlobalAppendix | $1,854.77 | ↓ -55% |
| Coventry National First Health | COMM | $2,135.05 | ↓ -48% |
| Multiplan | PHCSPrimaryNetwork | $3,091.29 | ↓ -25% |
| Multiplan | ComplementaryNetwork | $3,503.46 | ↓ -15% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor St Luke's Medical Center | Houston | $1,021.30 | $97.56 – $2,918.00 |
| St. Luke's Health - The Vintage Hospital | Houston | $1,021.30 | $97.56 – $2,918.00 |
| HCA HOUSTON TOMBALL | HOUSTON | $3,989.02 | $97.56 – $597.58 |
| Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital | Houston | $1,249.00 | $176.20 – $343.59 |
| Houston Methodist Hospital | Houston | $722.00 | $176.20 – $704.80 |
| Houston Methodist West Hospital | Houston | $1,249.00 | $176.20 – $704.80 |
| HCA HOUSTON WEST | HOUSTON | not published | $95.61 – $597.58 |
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $501.34 | $97.56 – $626.68 |