Artery x-rays spine at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$8,667.45
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.
$16,995.00
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.
$0.41 with aetna vs $12,549.11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $0.41 | ↓ -100% |
| first choice | commercial | $7.30 | ↓ -100% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $44.29 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $265.59 | ↓ -97% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $272.67 | ↓ -97% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $285.45 | ↓ -97% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $285.45 | ↓ -97% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $285.45 | ↓ -97% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $285.45 | ↓ -97% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $285.45 | ↓ -97% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $286.40 | ↓ -97% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $286.40 | ↓ -97% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $286.40 | ↓ -97% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $294.19 | ↓ -97% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $384.25 | ↓ -96% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $465.30 | ↓ -95% |
| premera | commercial | $550.63 | ↓ -94% |
| regence | commercial | $617.52 | ↓ -93% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $821.81 | ↓ -91% |
| cigna | commercial | $900.33 | ↓ -90% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $948.88 | ↓ -89% |
| aetna | commercial | $1,160.87 | ↓ -87% |
| cigna | local plus | $12,549.11 | ↑ +45% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Artery x-rays spine at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $13,007.04 | $6,443.62 – $22,383.45 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $13,007.04 | $6,443.62 – $21,556.13 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $18,640.00 | $5,406.00 – $5,406.00 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $8,638.70 | $1,459.13 – $15,780.92 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $13,007.04 | $580.76 – $22,383.45 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $3,905.30 | $775.53 – $11,471.40 |
| Kadlec Regional Medical Center | Richland | $13,710.20 | $416.51 – $17,051.86 |
| Providence Holy Family Hospital | Spokane | $8,827.00 | $676.92 – $18,821.15 |