ER Visit (level 2) 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

not published by hospital

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.

not published by hospital

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.

$1.24 with first choice vs $972.20 with confluence 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 →

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 $1.24
united healthcare commercial $42.09
humana medicare advantage $42.82
united healthcare medicare advantage $42.82
kaiser foundation hp medicare $42.82
optum care network medicare advantage $42.82
humana choicecare medicare advantage $42.82
signal health medicare advantage $43.66
multiplan medicare advantage $43.66
premera medicare advantage hmo/ppo $43.66
regence medicare advantage $45.41
regence uniform medical plan $77.55
premera commercial $91.77
regence commercial $102.92
cigna commercial $103.78
coventry - first health commercial $107.71
aetna medicare advantage $138.24
aetna medicare advantage ppo $177.67
aetna medicare advantage hmo $181.12
kaiser health plan commercial $204.10
cigna local plus $584.23
aetna commercial $814.00
confluence health medicare advantage $972.20

Visitor-reported prices

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ER Visit (level 2) at other Washington hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus Seattle $336.00 $177.80 – $623.17
Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill Seattle $336.00 $177.80 – $600.13
Central Medical Center Seattle $604.00 $234.00 – $234.00
Providence St Joseph Hospital Chewelah $237.30 not published
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital Spokane $452.20 $171.10 – $435.45
Swedish Issaquah Issaquah $336.00 $178.30 – $623.17
Providence Centralia Hospital Centralia $539.76 $177.80 – $797.19
Providence Mount Carmel Hospital Colville $212.80 not published

All Washington hospitals for this procedure →