Artery x-rays spine at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$3,213.13
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.
$9,701.54
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.
$6,127.04 with Kaiser vs $26,958.98 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $6,127.04 | ↑ +91% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $6,127.04 | ↑ +91% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $6,188.31 | ↑ +93% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $6,310.85 | ↑ +96% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $6,310.85 | ↑ +96% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $6,310.85 | ↑ +96% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $6,441.62 | ↑ +100% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $6,555.93 | ↑ +104% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $6,617.20 | ↑ +106% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $6,617.20 | ↑ +106% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $6,678.47 | ↑ +108% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $6,985.11 | ↑ +117% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $7,046.10 | ↑ +119% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $7,276.16 | ↑ +126% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $8,735.43 | ↑ +172% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $10,808.75 | ↑ +236% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $11,763.92 | ↑ +266% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $12,131.54 | ↑ +278% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $12,254.08 | ↑ +281% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $12,720.99 | ↑ +296% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $13,581.45 | ↑ +323% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $13,984.77 | ↑ +335% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $15,384.33 | ↑ +379% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $15,573.20 | ↑ +385% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $18,389.42 | ↑ +472% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $19,333.92 | ↑ +502% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $20,351.78 | ↑ +533% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $20,351.78 | ↑ +533% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $22,915.13 | ↑ +613% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $26,958.98 | ↑ +739% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Artery x-rays spine at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $5,980.00 | $2,909.14 – $40,424.21 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $5,980.00 | $2,923.70 – $26,710.80 |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $13,007.04 | $6,443.62 – $22,383.45 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $8,638.70 | $1,459.13 – $15,780.92 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $13,007.04 | $6,443.62 – $21,556.13 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $13,007.04 | $580.76 – $22,383.45 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $18,640.00 | $5,406.00 – $5,406.00 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $3,905.30 | $775.53 – $11,471.40 |