Brain image 4+ views at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$1,292.85
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.
$2,535.00
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.
$5.87 with first choice vs $1,871.84 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 | $5.87 | ↓ -100% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $36.55 | ↓ -97% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $74.11 | ↓ -94% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $76.69 | ↓ -94% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $117.27 | ↓ -91% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $213.18 | ↓ -84% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $213.18 | ↓ -84% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $213.18 | ↓ -84% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $213.18 | ↓ -84% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $213.18 | ↓ -84% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $217.08 | ↓ -83% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $222.63 | ↓ -83% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $222.63 | ↓ -83% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $222.63 | ↓ -83% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $234.22 | ↓ -82% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $353.98 | ↓ -73% |
| premera | commercial | $418.90 | ↓ -68% |
| regence | commercial | $469.78 | ↓ -64% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $517.58 | ↓ -60% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $640.83 | ↓ -50% |
| cigna | commercial | $716.80 | ↓ -45% |
| aetna | commercial | $1,422.79 | ↑ +10% |
| cigna | local plus | $1,871.84 | ↑ +45% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Brain image 4+ views at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $1,547.04 | $628.75 – $2,218.31 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $1,547.04 | $628.75 – $2,147.51 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $1,848.00 | $539.00 – $539.00 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,331.40 | $605.06 – $1,699.13 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $1,547.04 | $630.52 – $2,218.31 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $1,190.00 | $478.94 – $1,119.35 |
| Providence Regional Medical Center Everett - Colby Campus | Everett | $694.20 | $618.34 – $1,982.32 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $843.37 | $1,203.87 – $2,377.71 |