Head CT scan (without contrast) at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$678.81
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.
$1,331.00
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.
$3.33 with first choice vs $607.35 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 | $3.33 | ↓ -100% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $81.09 | ↓ -88% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $87.23 | ↓ -87% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $98.46 | ↓ -85% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $109.44 | ↓ -84% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $115.84 | ↓ -83% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $115.84 | ↓ -83% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $115.84 | ↓ -83% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $115.84 | ↓ -83% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $115.84 | ↓ -83% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $119.31 | ↓ -82% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $121.63 | ↓ -82% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $122.79 | ↓ -82% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $123.20 | ↓ -82% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $126.77 | ↓ -81% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $205.76 | ↓ -70% |
| premera | commercial | $243.49 | ↓ -64% |
| regence | commercial | $273.07 | ↓ -60% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $316.58 | ↓ -53% |
| cigna | commercial | $345.25 | ↓ -49% |
| cigna | local plus | $392.34 | ↓ -42% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $543.92 | ↓ -20% |
| aetna | commercial | $607.35 | ↓ -11% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Head CT scan (without contrast) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $304.32 | $121.06 – $526.78 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $304.32 | $121.06 – $509.96 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $1,600.00 | $107.00 – $107.00 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | $527.31 | $116.50 – $128.15 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $1,033.20 | not published |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,151.50 | $116.50 – $403.49 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $304.32 | $121.40 – $526.78 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $807.04 | $121.06 – $698.26 |