Incision of eardrum at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$666.06
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$1,306.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$5.64 with first choice vs $856.75 with cigna — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | $5.64 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $8.93 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $62.51 | ↓ -91% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $98.33 | ↓ -85% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $131.42 | ↓ -80% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $134.55 | ↓ -80% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $134.55 | ↓ -80% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $134.55 | ↓ -80% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $134.55 | ↓ -80% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $134.55 | ↓ -80% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $138.06 | ↓ -79% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $138.06 | ↓ -79% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $138.06 | ↓ -79% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $141.80 | ↓ -79% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $193.31 | ↓ -71% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $226.39 | ↓ -66% |
| premera | commercial | $267.92 | ↓ -60% |
| cigna | commercial | $433.95 | ↓ -35% |
| regence | commercial | $479.74 | ↓ -28% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $484.04 | ↓ -27% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $489.38 | ↓ -27% |
| aetna | commercial | $822.78 | ↑ +24% |
| cigna | local plus | $856.75 | ↑ +29% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Incision of eardrum at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $636.48 | $274.27 – $957.11 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $636.48 | $274.27 – $926.56 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | not published | not published |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $277.90 | not published |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $919.80 | $263.93 – $671.71 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $636.48 | $275.04 – $957.11 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $479.96 | $274.27 – $1,191.29 |
| Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | Colville | $333.20 | not published |