Contrast x-ray of brain at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$1,424.94
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.
$2,794.00
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.
$1.72 with first choice vs $1,760.22 with aetna — 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 | $1.72 | ↓ -100% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $8.53 | ↓ -99% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $60.07 | ↓ -96% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $60.82 | ↓ -96% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $60.82 | ↓ -96% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $60.82 | ↓ -96% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $60.82 | ↓ -96% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $60.82 | ↓ -96% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $61.50 | ↓ -96% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $61.50 | ↓ -96% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $61.50 | ↓ -96% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $64.81 | ↓ -95% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $84.65 | ↓ -94% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $90.53 | ↓ -94% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $108.82 | ↓ -92% |
| premera | commercial | $128.78 | ↓ -91% |
| regence | commercial | $144.42 | ↓ -90% |
| cigna | commercial | $198.35 | ↓ -86% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $209.84 | ↓ -85% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $290.24 | ↓ -80% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $446.29 | ↓ -69% |
| cigna | local plus | $1,317.58 | ↓ -8% |
| aetna | commercial | $1,760.22 | ↑ +24% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Contrast x-ray of brain at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $1,433.60 | $358.00 – $358.00 |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | not published | $403.99 – $1,794.70 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | not published | $403.99 – $1,737.42 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $2,833.60 | $388.77 – $1,374.66 |
| Providence Regional Medical Center Everett - Colby Campus | Everett | $1,287.00 | $165.53 – $1,603.77 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $1,307.41 | $1,736.41 – $2,666.07 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $904.56 | $934.73 – $2,718.82 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $900.98 | $934.73 – $2,560.63 |