Tilt table study at Virginia Mason Medical Center
1100 9th Ave., Seattle, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1801851258
$925.14
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.
$1,814.00
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.
$4.59 with first choice vs $3,294.11 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 | $4.59 | ↓ -100% |
| united healthcare | commercial | $175.08 | ↓ -81% |
| humana | medicare advantage | $182.39 | ↓ -80% |
| humana | choicecare medicare advantage | $182.39 | ↓ -80% |
| kaiser foundation | hp medicare | $182.39 | ↓ -80% |
| optum care network | medicare advantage | $182.39 | ↓ -80% |
| united healthcare | medicare advantage | $182.39 | ↓ -80% |
| signal health | medicare advantage | $185.13 | ↓ -80% |
| aetna | medicare advantage hmo | $185.13 | ↓ -80% |
| multiplan | medicare advantage | $185.13 | ↓ -80% |
| premera | medicare advantage hmo/ppo | $185.13 | ↓ -80% |
| regence | medicare advantage | $188.90 | ↓ -80% |
| regence | uniform medical plan | $298.94 | ↓ -68% |
| premera | commercial | $353.77 | ↓ -62% |
| regence | commercial | $396.74 | ↓ -57% |
| aetna | medicare advantage ppo | $404.50 | ↓ -56% |
| coventry - first health | commercial | $457.85 | ↓ -51% |
| cigna | commercial | $578.11 | ↓ -38% |
| kaiser health plan | commercial | $636.11 | ↓ -31% |
| confluence health | medicare advantage | $782.03 | ↓ -15% |
| aetna | commercial | $1,142.82 | ↑ +24% |
| cigna | local plus | $1,339.46 | ↑ +45% |
| aetna | medicare advantage | $3,294.11 | ↑ +256% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Tilt table study at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $1,240.80 | $432.11 – $2,282.37 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $1,240.80 | $432.11 – $2,209.53 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,569.40 | $415.83 – $1,748.20 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $1,240.80 | $433.33 – $2,282.37 |
| Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | Colville | $1,425.20 | not published |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $991.90 | $415.83 – $769.28 |
| Kadlec Regional Medical Center | Richland | $9,391.90 | $269.07 – $1,898.74 |
| Providence Holy Family Hospital | Spokane | $1,445.50 | $415.83 – $1,091.54 |