Drainage of eye at Virginia Mason Medical Center

1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Jan 1, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$3,034.50

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$5,950.00

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$3.48 with first choice vs $4,393.48 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 →

Payer
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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
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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 $3.48 ↓ -100%
confluence health medicare advantage $11.23 ↓ -100%
united healthcare commercial $92.06 ↓ -97%
humana medicare advantage $94.27 ↓ -97%
humana choicecare medicare advantage $94.27 ↓ -97%
united healthcare medicare advantage $94.27 ↓ -97%
kaiser foundation hp medicare $94.27 ↓ -97%
optum care network medicare advantage $94.27 ↓ -97%
multiplan medicare advantage $96.33 ↓ -97%
premera medicare advantage hmo/ppo $96.33 ↓ -97%
signal health medicare advantage $96.33 ↓ -97%
regence medicare advantage $99.33 ↓ -97%
aetna medicare advantage $109.16 ↓ -96%
regence uniform medical plan $163.23 ↓ -95%
premera commercial $193.17 ↓ -94%
aetna medicare advantage ppo $278.63 ↓ -91%
regence commercial $293.82 ↓ -90%
cigna commercial $303.99 ↓ -90%
aetna medicare advantage hmo $304.17 ↓ -90%
coventry - first health commercial $367.84 ↓ -88%
kaiser health plan commercial $410.55 ↓ -86%
aetna commercial $3,748.50 ↑ +24%
cigna local plus $4,393.48 ↑ +45%

Visitor-reported prices

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Drainage of eye at other Washington hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus Seattle $1,044.48 $2,672.44 – $9,846.46
Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill Seattle $1,044.48 $2,672.44 – $9,482.52
Central Medical Center Seattle not published not published
Providence St Joseph Hospital Chewelah $4,365.20 not published
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital Spokane $4,649.40 $2,571.71 – $6,545.00
Swedish Issaquah Issaquah $1,044.48 $2,679.93 – $9,846.46
Providence Centralia Hospital Centralia $5,165.68 $2,672.44 – $11,827.88
Providence Mount Carmel Hospital Colville $4,535.30 not published

All Washington hospitals for this procedure →