After cataract laser surgery at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$1,183.20
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.
$2,320.00
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.
$5.79 with confluence health vs $1,713.09 with cigna — 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 | $5.79 | ↓ -100% |
| first choice | commercial | $9.73 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $26.80 | ↓ -98% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $72.73 | ↓ -94% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $139.84 | ↓ -88% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $337.04 | ↓ -72% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $342.09 | ↓ -71% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $342.09 | ↓ -71% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $342.09 | ↓ -71% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $342.09 | ↓ -71% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $342.09 | ↓ -71% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $354.07 | ↓ -70% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $354.07 | ↓ -70% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $354.07 | ↓ -70% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $363.65 | ↓ -69% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $574.74 | ↓ -51% |
| premera | commercial | $680.15 | ↓ -43% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $793.36 | ↓ -33% |
| regence | commercial | $820.87 | ↓ -31% |
| cigna | commercial | $1,112.89 | ↓ -6% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $1,224.23 | ↑ +3% |
| aetna | commercial | $1,461.60 | ↑ +24% |
| cigna | local plus | $1,713.09 | ↑ +45% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
After cataract laser surgery at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | not published | $636.89 – $2,382.57 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | not published | $636.89 – $2,306.53 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | not published | not published |
| MultiCare Auburn Medical Center | Auburn | $1,180.80 | $368.21 – $2,640.11 |
| MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital | Puyallup | $1,180.80 | $376.72 – $2,640.11 |
| MultiCare Capital Medical Center | Olympia | $1,180.80 | $396.25 – $2,845.54 |
| MultiCare Covington Medical Center | Covington | $1,180.80 | $368.21 – $2,640.11 |
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $1,180.80 | $374.99 – $4,174.51 |