Myelography l-s spine at St. Clare Hospital

11315 Bridgeport Way SW, Lakewood, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1689672693

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$1,005.05

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$3,486.81

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$895.49 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 →

Payer
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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
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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 $895.49 ↓ -11%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $895.49 ↓ -11%
Optum Medicare|All Plans $904.44 ↓ -10%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $922.35 ↓ -8%
BCBS - Regence Medicare|All Plans $922.35 ↓ -8%
BCBS - Premera Medicare|All Plans $922.35 ↓ -8%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $958.17 ↓ -5%
United Medicare|All Plans $967.13 ↓ -4%
Molina Medicare|All Plans $967.13 ↓ -4%
Amerigroup Medicare|All Plans $976.08 ↓ -3%
CHPW Medicare|All Plans $1,029.81 ↑ +2%
Seattle Medical Group Medicare|All Plans $1,029.81 ↑ +2%
Cigna Commercial|All Plans $1,396.62 ↑ +39%
Sound Family Medicine Commercial|All Plans $1,701.43 ↑ +69%
Molina Commercial|Marketplace Exchange $1,719.34 ↑ +71%
Coordinated Care Commercial|Ambetter Exchange $1,773.07 ↑ +76%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange $1,853.46 ↑ +84%
Uniform Medical Plan Commercial|All Plans $1,978.83 ↑ +97%
Kaiser Commercial|HMO $2,015.51 ↑ +101%
Kaiser Commercial|PPO $2,217.21 ↑ +121%
BCBS - Regence Commercial|All Plans $2,269.03 ↑ +126%
Aetna Commercial|Rental $2,510.51 ↑ +150%
First Choice Commercial|All Plans $2,560.63 ↑ +155%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $2,615.11 ↑ +160%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|All Other Plans $2,679.36 ↑ +167%
United Commercial|Navigate $2,825.70 ↑ +181%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $2,974.46 ↑ +196%
United Commercial|Cascade Care $2,974.46 ↑ +196%
Aetna Commercial|AWH $3,349.13 ↑ +233%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $3,940.16 ↑ +292%

Visitor-reported prices

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Myelography l-s 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 $1,429.40 $744.41 – $2,450.95
Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill Seattle $1,490.40 $907.77 – $3,097.73
Swedish Issaquah Issaquah $1,490.40 $284.35 – $3,199.85
Central Medical Center Seattle $2,720.00 $791.00 – $791.00
Providence Mount Carmel Hospital Colville $1,227.10 not published
Providence St Mary Medical Center Walla Walla $2,630.60 $395.65 – $1,616.08
Kadlec Regional Medical Center Richland $1,354.50 $188.18 – $2,662.01

All Washington hospitals for this procedure →