Abdominal paracentesis w/image guidance at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$1,476.96
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.
$2,896.00
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.
$5.02 with confluence health vs $2,316.80 with coventry - first health — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $5.02 | ↓ -100% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $5.67 | ↓ -100% |
| first choice | commercial | $9.07 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $13.19 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $29.68 | ↓ -98% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $108.53 | ↓ -93% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $110.48 | ↓ -93% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $110.48 | ↓ -93% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $110.48 | ↓ -93% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $110.48 | ↓ -93% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $110.48 | ↓ -93% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $112.48 | ↓ -92% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $112.48 | ↓ -92% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $112.48 | ↓ -92% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $117.10 | ↓ -92% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $195.12 | ↓ -87% |
| premera | commercial | $230.91 | ↓ -84% |
| cigna | commercial | $358.37 | ↓ -76% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $511.21 | ↓ -65% |
| regence | commercial | $734.55 | ↓ -50% |
| aetna | commercial | $1,824.48 | ↑ +24% |
| cigna | local plus | $2,138.41 | ↑ +45% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $2,316.80 | ↑ +57% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Abdominal paracentesis w/image guidance at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $2,480.64 | $1,050.28 – $3,693.82 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $2,480.64 | $1,050.28 – $3,575.94 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | not published | not published |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $800.10 | not published |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $2,401.70 | $1,010.69 – $2,572.22 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $2,480.64 | $1,053.23 – $3,693.82 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $1,761.76 | $1,050.28 – $4,597.63 |
| Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | Colville | $2,263.80 | not published |