Culture typing added method at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$30.60
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.
$60.00
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.
$5.42 with multiplan vs $48.00 with coventry - first health — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $5.42 | ↓ -82% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $6.58 | ↓ -78% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $7.74 | ↓ -75% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $7.74 | ↓ -75% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $7.74 | ↓ -75% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $7.74 | ↓ -75% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $7.74 | ↓ -75% |
| regence | commercial | $7.74 | ↓ -75% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $7.74 | ↓ -75% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $7.97 | ↓ -74% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $8.13 | ↓ -73% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $9.29 | ↓ -70% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $12.38 | ↓ -60% |
| premera | commercial | $13.55 | ↓ -56% |
| cigna | commercial | $24.19 | ↓ -21% |
| cigna | local plus | $27.46 | ↓ -10% |
| aetna | commercial | $34.91 | ↑ +14% |
| first choice | commercial | $38.43 | ↑ +26% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $48.00 | ↑ +57% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Culture typing added method at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $34.40 | $6.00 – $6.00 |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | not published | $6.97 – $36.38 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | not published | $6.97 – $35.22 |
| MultiCare Valley Hospital | Spokane Valley | $5.20 | $4.89 – $14.03 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $35.49 | $7.74 – $72.36 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $24.56 | $7.74 – $72.36 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $24.46 | $7.74 – $60.30 |
| MultiCare Auburn Medical Center | Auburn | $14.00 | $5.00 – $15.17 |