Spine X-ray (single view, one level) at Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill
500 17th Ave, Seattle, WA · Providence · · NPI 1356496582
$264.48
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.
$551.00
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.
$100.77 with Kaiser vs $427.45 with Unitedhealthcare — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $100.77 | ↓ -62% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $103.80 | ↓ -61% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Ppo | $104.81 | ↓ -60% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $105.81 | ↓ -60% |
| Humana | Choice Care Medicare Managed Care Plan | $106.82 | ↓ -60% |
| Blue Shield | Regence Medicare Managed Care Plan | $108.84 | ↓ -59% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $110.85 | ↓ -58% |
| Cigna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $120.93 | ↓ -54% |
| Kaiser | All Commercial Plans | $151.16 | ↓ -43% |
| Community Health Plan | Cascade Care Exchange | $161.24 | ↓ -39% |
| Blue Cross | Premera Lifewise Exchange | $181.39 | ↓ -31% |
| Coordinated Care | Ambetter Exchange | $186.43 | ↓ -30% |
| Providence Health Plan | Signature/Choice Network Other Commercial Plan | $235.81 | ↓ -11% |
| Blue Shield | Uniform Exchange | $251.08 | ↓ -5% |
| Blue Cross | Premera Heritage Signature Exchange | $261.51 | ↓ -1% |
| Aetna | Whole Health Other Commercial Plan | $274.00 | ↑ +4% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $282.93 | ↑ +7% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Navigate Exchange | $305.62 | ↑ +16% |
| Blue Cross | Premera All Commercial Plans | $318.62 | ↑ +20% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Aco Tiered Other Commercial Plan | $334.41 | ↑ +26% |
| Blue Shield | Regence All Commercial Plans | $335.06 | ↑ +27% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $359.94 | ↑ +36% |
| First Choice | Health Administrators Other Commercial Plan | $363.14 | ↑ +37% |
| First Choice | All Commercial Plans | $367.13 | ↑ +39% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $427.45 | ↑ +62% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Spine X-ray (single view, one level) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $264.48 | $100.77 – $375.11 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $304.00 | $89.00 – $89.00 |
| Virginia Mason Medical Center | Seattle | $189.21 | $0.72 – $601.71 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $374.50 | not published |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $414.40 | $96.98 – $287.32 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $264.48 | $69.03 – $375.11 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $206.96 | $100.77 – $497.22 |
| Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | Colville | $404.60 | not published |