Surgical opening of throat at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$2,710.65
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.
$5,315.00
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.
$5.32 with aetna vs $3,924.60 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $5.32 | ↓ -100% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $15.02 | ↓ -99% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $18.68 | ↓ -99% |
| first choice | commercial | $22.66 | ↓ -99% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $30.96 | ↓ -99% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $835.04 | ↓ -69% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $838.15 | ↓ -69% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $838.15 | ↓ -69% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $838.15 | ↓ -69% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $838.15 | ↓ -69% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $838.15 | ↓ -69% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $865.13 | ↓ -68% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $865.13 | ↓ -68% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $865.13 | ↓ -68% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $900.96 | ↓ -67% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $1,430.29 | ↓ -47% |
| premera | commercial | $1,692.61 | ↓ -38% |
| regence | commercial | $1,898.21 | ↓ -30% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $1,936.87 | ↓ -29% |
| cigna | commercial | $2,757.24 | ↑ +2% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $3,052.45 | ↑ +13% |
| aetna | commercial | $3,348.45 | ↑ +24% |
| cigna | local plus | $3,924.60 | ↑ +45% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Surgical opening of throat at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | not published | $1,796.72 – $6,571.29 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | not published | $1,796.72 – $6,328.40 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | not published | not published |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | not published | $1,729.00 – $1,901.90 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | not published | $1,729.00 – $4,400.30 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | not published | $1,801.76 – $6,571.29 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | not published | $1,796.72 – $7,893.64 |
| Swedish Edmonds Hospital | Edmonds | not published | $1,766.95 – $6,530.81 |