Biopsy of heart lining at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$4,516.05
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.
$8,855.00
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.
$20.70 with first choice vs $6,538.53 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| first choice | commercial | $20.70 | ↓ -100% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $41.58 | ↓ -99% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $188.15 | ↓ -96% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $450.98 | ↓ -90% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $468.73 | ↓ -90% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $699.07 | ↓ -85% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $699.07 | ↓ -85% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $699.07 | ↓ -85% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $699.07 | ↓ -85% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $699.07 | ↓ -85% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $722.53 | ↓ -84% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $742.96 | ↓ -84% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $742.96 | ↓ -84% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $742.96 | ↓ -84% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $779.57 | ↓ -83% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $1,208.90 | ↓ -73% |
| premera | commercial | $1,430.61 | ↓ -68% |
| regence | commercial | $1,604.39 | ↓ -64% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $2,078.37 | ↓ -54% |
| cigna | commercial | $2,385.75 | ↓ -47% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $2,454.75 | ↓ -46% |
| aetna | commercial | $4,497.00 | ↓ -0% |
| cigna | local plus | $6,538.53 | ↑ +45% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Biopsy of heart lining at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $8,451.84 | $3,656.33 – $13,496.13 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $8,451.84 | $3,656.33 – $12,997.30 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $6,150.40 | not published |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $3,942.40 | $3,518.52 – $8,954.64 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $8,451.84 | $3,666.59 – $13,496.13 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $4,561.90 | $2,824.42 – $6,509.26 |
| Providence Regional Medical Center Everett - Colby Campus | Everett | $2,476.76 | $1,985.00 – $10,503.15 |
| MultiCare Valley Hospital | Spokane Valley | $4,083.60 | $1,596.86 – $13,256.42 |