Myelography thoracic spine at St. Francis Hospital
34515 Ninth Avenue South, Federal Way, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1093713091
$1,094.25
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.
$3,486.81
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.
$879.37 with SoundPath vs $3,940.16 with Aetna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $879.37 | ↓ -20% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $879.37 | ↓ -20% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $888.16 | ↓ -19% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $905.75 | ↓ -17% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $905.75 | ↓ -17% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $905.75 | ↓ -17% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $940.93 | ↓ -14% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $949.72 | ↓ -13% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $949.72 | ↓ -13% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $958.51 | ↓ -12% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $1,011.28 | ↓ -8% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $1,011.28 | ↓ -8% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $1,396.62 | ↑ +28% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $1,670.80 | ↑ +53% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $1,688.39 | ↑ +54% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $1,741.15 | ↑ +59% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $1,853.46 | ↑ +69% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,978.83 | ↑ +81% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $2,015.51 | ↑ +84% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $2,217.21 | ↑ +103% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $2,269.03 | ↑ +107% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $2,510.51 | ↑ +129% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $2,560.63 | ↑ +134% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,615.11 | ↑ +139% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,679.36 | ↑ +145% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $2,825.70 | ↑ +158% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,974.46 | ↑ +172% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $2,974.46 | ↑ +172% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $3,349.13 | ↑ +206% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,940.16 | ↑ +260% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Myelography thoracic spine at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $1,490.40 | $907.77 – $3,199.85 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,286.60 | $770.34 – $2,450.95 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $1,490.40 | $907.77 – $3,097.73 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $1,490.40 | $263.51 – $3,199.85 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $2,720.00 | $791.00 – $791.00 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $2,793.00 | $409.43 – $1,616.08 |
| Kadlec Regional Medical Center | Richland | $1,558.20 | $202.53 – $2,662.01 |
| Providence Holy Family Hospital | Spokane | $2,549.40 | $357.37 – $2,742.27 |