Fern test at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital
317 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Tacoma, WA · Multicare · · NPI 1306952726
$13.60
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.
$34.00
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.
$6.79 with Molina vs $30.10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Molina | Apple Health | $6.79 | ↓ -50% |
| United Healthcare | Apple Health | $7.33 | ↓ -46% |
| WellPoint | Apple Health | $7.33 | ↓ -46% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | Apple Health | $7.33 | ↓ -46% |
| Coordinated Care | Apple Health | $7.33 | ↓ -46% |
| SCAN | MedAdvantage | $9.55 | ↓ -30% |
| Premera | HMO | $9.74 | ↓ -28% |
| Premera | Signature | $9.74 | ↓ -28% |
| Premera | Prime | $9.74 | ↓ -28% |
| Regence | Blue High Performance | $9.80 | ↓ -28% |
| Regence | MCC/AHN | $9.80 | ↓ -28% |
| Regence | MedAdvantage | $9.83 | ↓ -28% |
| Aetna | MedAdvantage | $9.83 | ↓ -28% |
| United Healthcare | MedAdvantage HMO | $9.93 | ↓ -27% |
| WellCare | MedAdvantage | $10.02 | ↓ -26% |
| Molina | MedAdvantage | $10.02 | ↓ -26% |
| Regence | RealValue | $10.08 | ↓ -26% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | MedAdvantage | $10.50 | ↓ -23% |
| Uniform Medical | All Commercial Plans | $11.20 | ↓ -18% |
| Regence | Commercial | $11.20 | ↓ -18% |
| United Healthcare | All Commercial Plans | $11.69 | ↓ -14% |
| Premera | Other Commercial Plans | $12.18 | ↓ -10% |
| First Choice | MHS Employee MCC/PPO | $17.44 | ↑ +28% |
| First Choice | First Choice PPO | $20.28 | ↑ +49% |
| First Choice | MCC Wellfound Employee | $20.28 | ↑ +49% |
| First Health | All Commercial Plans | $21.33 | ↑ +57% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | Cascade Care | $21.38 | ↑ +57% |
| Multiplan/PHCS | All Commercial Plans | $21.60 | ↑ +59% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $21.98 | ↑ +62% |
| Ambetter | Coordinated Care Exchange | $24.09 | ↑ +77% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $30.10 | ↑ +121% |
| Kaiser | HMO/PPO | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Fern test at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $13.60 | $6.82 – $19.09 |
| MultiCare Valley Hospital | Spokane Valley | $16.00 | $6.51 – $17.66 |
| MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital | Yakima | $10.80 | $9.74 – $17.82 |
| MultiCare Auburn Medical Center | Auburn | $13.60 | $6.66 – $19.09 |
| MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital | Puyallup | $13.60 | $6.82 – $19.09 |
| MultiCare Capital Medical Center | Olympia | $32.00 | $7.17 – $17.66 |
| MultiCare Covington Medical Center | Covington | $13.60 | $6.66 – $19.09 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | not published | $9.74 – $10.71 |