Upper GI Barium X-ray (barium only) at Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus
747 Broadway, Seattle, WA · Providence · · NPI 1306992151
$424.80
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.
$885.00
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.
$203.11 with Kaiser vs $911.10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $203.11 | ↓ -52% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $209.21 | ↓ -51% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care - Ppo | $211.24 | ↓ -50% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $213.27 | ↓ -50% |
| Humana | Choice Care Medicare Managed Care Plan | $215.30 | ↓ -49% |
| Blue Shield | Regence Medicare Managed Care Plan | $219.36 | ↓ -48% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $223.42 | ↓ -47% |
| Cigna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $243.73 | ↓ -43% |
| Kaiser | All Commercial Plans | $304.67 | ↓ -28% |
| Community Health Plan | Cascade Care Exchange | $324.98 | ↓ -23% |
| Blue Cross | Premera Lifewise Exchange | $365.60 | ↓ -14% |
| Coordinated Care | Ambetter Exchange | $375.76 | ↓ -12% |
| Blue Shield-First Hill | Uniform Exchange | $507.67 | ↑ +20% |
| Blue Shield-Mill Creek | Uniform Exchange | $507.67 | ↑ +20% |
| Blue Shield-Redmond | Uniform Exchange | $507.67 | ↑ +20% |
| Blue Shield-Ballard | Uniform Exchange | $507.67 | ↑ +20% |
| Blue Cross | Premera Heritage Signature Exchange | $528.78 | ↑ +24% |
| Aetna | Whole Health Other Commercial Plan | $552.25 | ↑ +30% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $572.07 | ↑ +35% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Navigate Exchange | $615.99 | ↑ +45% |
| Providence Health Plan | Signature/Choice Network Other Commercial Plan | $617.06 | ↑ +45% |
| Blue Cross | Premera All Commercial Plans | $644.25 | ↑ +52% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Aco Tiered Other Commercial Plan | $674.01 | ↑ +59% |
| Blue Shield-Redmond | Regence All Commercial Plans | $677.48 | ↑ +59% |
| Blue Shield-Ballard | Regence All Commercial Plans | $677.48 | ↑ +59% |
| Blue Shield-First Hill | Regence All Commercial Plans | $677.48 | ↑ +59% |
| Blue Shield-Mill Creek | Regence All Commercial Plans | $677.48 | ↑ +59% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $725.46 | ↑ +71% |
| First Choice | Health Administrators All Commercial Plans | $856.43 | ↑ +102% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $861.53 | ↑ +103% |
| First Choice | All Commercial Plans | $911.10 | ↑ +114% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Upper GI Barium X-ray (barium only) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $424.80 | $203.11 – $829.10 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $616.00 | $179.00 – $179.00 |
| Virginia Mason Medical Center | Seattle | $456.45 | $3.67 – $465.69 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,498.00 | $195.46 – $655.99 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $424.80 | $203.68 – $856.43 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $935.48 | $203.11 – $1,135.23 |
| Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | Colville | $265.30 | not published |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $1,618.40 | $162.81 – $361.60 |