Aspirate pleura without imaging 32554 at St. Joseph Medical Center

1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$391.33

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$1,181.54

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$700.76 with SoundPath vs $4,556.00 with Cigna — 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 →

Payer
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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
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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
SoundPath Medicare|All Plans $700.76 ↑ +79%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $700.76 ↑ +79%
Optum Medicare|All Plans $707.77 ↑ +81%
BCBS - Regence Medicare|All Plans $721.78 ↑ +84%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $721.78 ↑ +84%
BCBS - Premera Medicare|All Plans $721.78 ↑ +84%
Seattle Medical Group Medicare|All Plans $725.03 ↑ +85%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $749.81 ↑ +92%
United Medicare|All Plans $756.82 ↑ +93%
Molina Medicare|All Plans $756.82 ↑ +93%
Amerigroup Medicare|All Plans $763.83 ↑ +95%
CHPW Medicare|All Plans $805.87 ↑ +106%
Aetna Commercial|Rental $850.71 ↑ +117%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $886.16 ↑ +126%
Molina Commercial|Marketplace Exchange $1,345.46 ↑ +244%
Coordinated Care Commercial|Ambetter Exchange $1,387.50 ↑ +255%
Sound Family Medicine Commercial|All Plans $1,401.52 ↑ +258%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange $1,454.21 ↑ +272%
Uniform Medical Plan Commercial|All Plans $1,552.58 ↑ +297%
Kaiser Commercial|HMO $1,574.04 ↑ +302%
Kaiser Commercial|PPO $1,731.57 ↑ +342%
BCBS - Regence Commercial|All Plans $1,780.27 ↑ +355%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|All Other Plans $2,102.20 ↑ +437%
United Commercial|Navigate $2,211.26 ↑ +465%
United Commercial|Cascade Care $2,327.68 ↑ +495%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $2,327.68 ↑ +495%
Aetna Commercial|AWH $2,620.84 ↑ +570%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $3,083.34 ↑ +688%
Cigna Commercial|All Plans $4,556.00 ↑ +1064%

Visitor-reported prices

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Aspirate pleura without imaging 32554 at other Washington hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital Tacoma $1,183.20 $673.13 – $4,549.90
MultiCare Allenmore Hospital Tacoma $1,183.20 $676.50 – $3,011.21
Providence St Joseph Hospital Chewelah $226.10 not published
Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus Seattle $2,403.36 $726.41 – $2,963.40
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital Spokane $1,076.60 $699.03 – $1,954.58
Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill Seattle $2,403.36 $726.41 – $2,868.82
Swedish Issaquah Issaquah $2,403.36 $728.45 – $2,963.40
Providence Centralia Hospital Centralia $2,091.96 $726.41 – $3,688.48

All Washington hospitals for this procedure →