Decompression of thigh/knee at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$3,814.29
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.
$7,479.00
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.
$20.76 with first choice vs $5,522.49 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 | $20.76 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $67.95 | ↓ -98% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $84.35 | ↓ -98% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $752.23 | ↓ -80% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $774.43 | ↓ -80% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $774.43 | ↓ -80% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $774.43 | ↓ -80% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $774.43 | ↓ -80% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $774.43 | ↓ -80% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $789.28 | ↓ -79% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $789.28 | ↓ -79% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $789.28 | ↓ -79% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $811.61 | ↓ -79% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $1,158.62 | ↓ -70% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $1,225.76 | ↓ -68% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $1,325.85 | ↓ -65% |
| premera | commercial | $1,569.01 | ↓ -59% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $1,681.34 | ↓ -56% |
| regence | commercial | $1,759.60 | ↓ -54% |
| cigna | commercial | $2,483.81 | ↓ -35% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $3,043.18 | ↓ -20% |
| aetna | commercial | $4,711.77 | ↑ +24% |
| cigna | local plus | $5,522.49 | ↑ +45% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Decompression of thigh/knee at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | not published | $7,277.00 – $29,132.10 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | not published | $7,277.00 – $28,055.35 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | not published | not published |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | not published | $7,851.46 – $8,894.51 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | not published | $8,085.92 – $20,578.67 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | not published | $7,277.00 – $29,132.10 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | not published | $8,402.62 – $34,994.41 |
| Swedish Edmonds Hospital | Edmonds | not published | $2,443.00 – $28,952.64 |