Smear wet mount at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital
317 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Tacoma, WA · Multicare · · NPI 1306952726
$21.60
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.
$54.00
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.
$5.09 with Molina vs $44.93 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 | $5.09 | ↓ -76% |
| WellPoint | Apple Health | $5.09 | ↓ -76% |
| United Healthcare | Apple Health | $5.50 | ↓ -75% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | Apple Health | $5.50 | ↓ -75% |
| Coordinated Care | Apple Health | $5.50 | ↓ -75% |
| SCAN | MedAdvantage | $5.70 | ↓ -74% |
| Premera | HMO | $5.82 | ↓ -73% |
| Premera | Signature | $5.82 | ↓ -73% |
| Premera | Prime | $5.82 | ↓ -73% |
| Regence | Blue High Performance | $5.86 | ↓ -73% |
| Regence | MCC/AHN | $5.86 | ↓ -73% |
| Regence | MedAdvantage | $5.87 | ↓ -73% |
| Aetna | MedAdvantage | $5.87 | ↓ -73% |
| United Healthcare | MedAdvantage HMO | $5.93 | ↓ -73% |
| WellCare | MedAdvantage | $5.99 | ↓ -72% |
| Molina | MedAdvantage | $5.99 | ↓ -72% |
| Regence | RealValue | $6.02 | ↓ -72% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | MedAdvantage | $6.27 | ↓ -71% |
| Uniform Medical | All Commercial Plans | $6.69 | ↓ -69% |
| Regence | Commercial | $6.69 | ↓ -69% |
| United Healthcare | All Commercial Plans | $6.98 | ↓ -68% |
| Premera | Other Commercial Plans | $7.28 | ↓ -66% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | Cascade Care | $16.04 | ↓ -26% |
| Ambetter | Coordinated Care Exchange | $18.08 | ↓ -16% |
| First Choice | MHS Employee MCC/PPO | $27.77 | ↑ +29% |
| First Choice | First Choice PPO | $32.29 | ↑ +49% |
| First Choice | MCC Wellfound Employee | $32.29 | ↑ +49% |
| First Health | All Commercial Plans | $33.97 | ↑ +57% |
| Multiplan/PHCS | All Commercial Plans | $34.40 | ↑ +59% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $35.00 | ↑ +62% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $44.93 | ↑ +108% |
| Kaiser | HMO/PPO | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Smear wet mount at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph Medical Center | Tacoma | $43.91 | $5.82 – $52.70 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $21.60 | $5.12 – $11.41 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | $114.66 | $5.82 – $6.40 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $86.10 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $27.36 | $5.24 – $27.35 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $163.10 | $5.82 – $20.95 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $27.36 | $5.24 – $26.48 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $27.36 | $5.24 – $27.35 |