Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital
317 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Tacoma, WA · Multicare · · NPI 1306952726
$1,302.00
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.
$3,255.00
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.
$673.13 with Molina vs $5,901.34 with United Healthcare — 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 | $673.13 | ↓ -48% |
| SCAN | MedAdvantage | $717.46 | ↓ -45% |
| WellPoint | Apple Health | $726.98 | ↓ -44% |
| United Healthcare | Apple Health | $726.98 | ↓ -44% |
| Coordinated Care | Apple Health | $726.98 | ↓ -44% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | Apple Health | $726.98 | ↓ -44% |
| Aetna | MedAdvantage | $738.98 | ↓ -43% |
| Regence | MedAdvantage | $738.98 | ↓ -43% |
| United Healthcare | MedAdvantage HMO | $746.16 | ↓ -43% |
| WellCare | MedAdvantage | $753.33 | ↓ -42% |
| Molina | MedAdvantage | $753.33 | ↓ -42% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | MedAdvantage | $789.21 | ↓ -39% |
| Premera | HMO | $1,083.73 | ↓ -17% |
| First Choice | MHS Employee MCC/PPO | $2,102.40 | ↑ +61% |
| Community Health Plan of Washington | Cascade Care | $2,120.36 | ↑ +63% |
| Premera | Signature | $2,295.30 | ↑ +76% |
| Premera | Prime | $2,346.95 | ↑ +80% |
| Ambetter | Coordinated Care Exchange | $2,389.62 | ↑ +84% |
| First Choice | MCC Wellfound Employee | $2,444.51 | ↑ +88% |
| First Choice | First Choice PPO | $2,444.51 | ↑ +88% |
| First Health | All Commercial Plans | $2,571.45 | ↑ +98% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $2,591.31 | ↑ +99% |
| Multiplan/PHCS | All Commercial Plans | $2,604.00 | ↑ +100% |
| Premera | Other Commercial Plans | $2,884.45 | ↑ +122% |
| Regence | Blue High Performance | $3,191.62 | ↑ +145% |
| Regence | MCC/AHN | $3,191.62 | ↑ +145% |
| Regence | RealValue | $3,282.81 | ↑ +152% |
| Regence | Commercial | $3,647.56 | ↑ +180% |
| Uniform Medical | All Commercial Plans | $3,690.06 | ↑ +183% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $4,229.50 | ↑ +225% |
| Kaiser | HMO/PPO | $4,549.90 | ↑ +249% |
| United Healthcare | All Commercial Plans | $5,901.34 | ↑ +353% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph Medical Center | Tacoma | $850.71 | $1,574.04 – $1,926.43 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $1,302.00 | $676.50 – $3,011.21 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | $1,683.99 | $699.03 – $768.93 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $802.90 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $2,503.68 | $726.41 – $2,963.40 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $2,221.10 | $699.03 – $1,954.58 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $2,503.68 | $726.41 – $2,868.82 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $2,503.68 | $728.45 – $2,963.40 |