Tissue culture skin/biopsy at Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital
18220 Tomball Parkway, Houston, TX · Houstonmethodist · · NPI 1871619254
$147.50
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.
$295.00
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.
$140.73 with Cigna vs $1,737.74 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigna | Texas Healthspring Medicare Managed Care - Hmo/Ppo | $140.73 | ↓ -5% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo/Ppo | $142.84 | ↓ -3% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $143.54 | ↓ -3% |
| Molina Healthcare | Advantage Medicare Managed Care Plan | $147.77 | ↑ +0% |
| Community Health Choice | D-Snp Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $150.58 | ↑ +2% |
| Procare Advantage | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $154.80 | ↑ +5% |
| Community Health Choice | Silver & Gold Exchange | $229.39 | ↑ +56% |
| Optum Health | Transplant Medicare Managed Care Plan | $274.42 | ↑ +86% |
| Molina Healthcare | Exchange | $281.46 | ↑ +91% |
| Bcbs | All Commercial Plans | $585.44 | ↑ +297% |
| Cigna | Network C-24 Hmo/Ppo | $1,641.52 | ↑ +1013% |
| Cigna | Local Plus/Surefit Hmo/Ppo | $1,641.52 | ↑ +1013% |
| Cigna | Pcp Optional/Pcp Required Benefit Plans Hmo | $1,737.74 | ↑ +1078% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Tissue culture skin/biopsy at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor St Luke's Medical Center | Houston | $236.95 | $101.33 – $677.00 |
| HCA HOUSTON WEST | HOUSTON | $594.00 | $115.85 – $578.49 |
| St. Luke's Health - The Vintage Hospital | Houston | $236.95 | $101.33 – $677.00 |
| Houston Methodist Hospital | Houston | $147.50 | $140.73 – $585.44 |
| Houston Methodist West Hospital | Houston | $147.50 | $140.73 – $585.44 |
| HCA HOUSTON TOMBALL | HOUSTON | not published | $118.21 – $578.49 |
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $687.36 | $35.00 – $859.20 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BRENHAM | Brenham | $645.58 | $36.00 – $968.36 |