Amino acid screen, urine at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital
16655 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, TX · Houstonmethodist · · NPI 1497871628
$30.00
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.
$60.00
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.
$13.87 with Cigna vs $164.24 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 | $13.87 | ↓ -54% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo/Ppo | $14.08 | ↓ -53% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $14.15 | ↓ -53% |
| Molina Healthcare | Advantage Medicare Managed Care Plan | $14.56 | ↓ -51% |
| Community Health Choice | D-Snp Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $14.84 | ↓ -51% |
| Procare Advantage | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $15.26 | ↓ -49% |
| Community Health Choice | Silver & Gold Exchange | $22.61 | ↓ -25% |
| Optum Health | Transplant Medicare Managed Care Plan | $27.05 | ↓ -10% |
| Molina Healthcare | Exchange | $27.74 | ↓ -8% |
| Bcbs | All Commercial Plans | $57.70 | ↑ +92% |
| Cigna | Network C-24 Hmo/Ppo | $155.15 | ↑ +417% |
| Cigna | Local Plus/Surefit Hmo/Ppo | $155.15 | ↑ +417% |
| Cigna | Pcp Optional/Pcp Required Benefit Plans Hmo | $164.24 | ↑ +447% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Amino acid screen, urine at other Texas hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Dallas | $159.39 | $10.00 – $199.24 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BRENHAM | Brenham | $138.60 | $12.00 – $207.90 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - BUDA | Suite 110 | $138.60 | $11.65 – $173.25 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - CENTENNIAL | Frisco | $159.39 | $10.00 – $199.24 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER - COLLEGE STATION | College Station | $138.60 | $12.00 – $207.90 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE CONTINUING CARE HOSPITAL | Temple | $138.60 | $8.00 – $207.90 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE EMERGENCY MEDICAL CENTER - CEDAR PARK | Cedar Park | $138.60 | $11.65 – $207.90 |
| BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE ALL SAINTS MEDICAL CENTER - FORT WORTH | Fort Worth | $159.39 | $10.00 – $199.24 |