Abdominal paracentesis w/image guidance at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$791.60
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,390.09
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$1,034.61 with Seattle Medical Group vs $4,675.75 with Aetna — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $1,034.61 | ↑ +31% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $1,062.67 | ↑ +34% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $1,062.67 | ↑ +34% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $1,073.30 | ↑ +36% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $1,094.55 | ↑ +38% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $1,094.55 | ↑ +38% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $1,094.55 | ↑ +38% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $1,137.06 | ↑ +44% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $1,147.68 | ↑ +45% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $1,147.68 | ↑ +45% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $1,158.31 | ↑ +46% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $1,222.07 | ↑ +54% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $1,720.87 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,792.57 | ↑ +126% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $2,040.33 | ↑ +158% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $2,092.18 | ↑ +164% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $2,098.39 | ↑ +165% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $2,104.09 | ↑ +166% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $2,125.34 | ↑ +168% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,240.33 | ↑ +183% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $2,246.13 | ↑ +184% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $2,470.92 | ↑ +212% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $2,568.87 | ↑ +225% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,033.43 | ↑ +283% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $3,353.25 | ↑ +324% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $3,529.79 | ↑ +346% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,529.79 | ↑ +346% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $3,974.39 | ↑ +402% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $4,556.00 | ↑ +476% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $4,675.75 | ↑ +491% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Abdominal paracentesis w/image guidance at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $953.20 | $522.24 – $6,492.64 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $953.20 | $524.85 – $4,353.73 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $800.10 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $2,480.64 | $1,050.28 – $3,693.82 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $2,401.70 | $1,010.69 – $2,572.22 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $2,480.64 | $1,050.28 – $3,575.94 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $2,480.64 | $1,053.23 – $3,693.82 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $1,761.76 | $1,050.28 – $4,597.63 |