Culture of specimen by kit at Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus
747 Broadway, Seattle, WA · Providence · · NPI 1306992151
not published by hospital
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.
not published by hospital
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.
$24.36 with Unitedhealthcare vs $135.35 with First Choice — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unitedhealthcare | Navigate Exchange | $24.36 | — |
| Unitedhealthcare | Aco Tiered Other Commercial Plan | $27.07 | — |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $27.88 | — |
| Blue Cross | Premera Medicare Managed Care Plan | $28.15 | — |
| Unitedhealthcare | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $28.42 | — |
| Humana | Choice Care Medicare Managed Care Plan | $28.69 | — |
| Molina | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $29.24 | — |
| Amerigroup | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $29.78 | — |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $32.48 | — |
| Kaiser | All Commercial Plans | $40.61 | — |
| Community Health Plan | Cascade Care Exchange | $43.31 | — |
| Blue Cross | Premera Lifewise Exchange | $48.73 | — |
| Coordinated Care | Ambetter Exchange | $50.08 | — |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $52.80 | — |
| Aetna | Whole Health Other Commercial Plan | $73.60 | — |
| Providence Health Plan | Signature/Choice Network Other Commercial Plan | $82.24 | — |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $96.69 | — |
| First Choice | Health Administrators All Commercial Plans | $127.23 | — |
| First Choice | All Commercial Plans | $135.35 | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Culture of specimen by kit at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | not published | $24.36 – $123.17 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | not published | $27.07 – $29.78 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | not published | $27.07 – $97.45 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | not published | $24.36 – $127.23 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | not published | $27.07 – $168.65 |
| Swedish Edmonds Hospital | Edmonds | not published | $27.07 – $121.82 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | not published | $27.07 – $50.08 |
| Kadlec Regional Medical Center | Richland | not published | $27.07 – $105.84 |