Assay of urine sulfate at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$34.14
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.
$103.07
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.
$5.49 with Kaiser vs $77.31 with MultiPlan — 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 | $5.49 | ↓ -84% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $5.49 | ↓ -84% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $5.49 | ↓ -84% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $5.54 | ↓ -84% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $5.65 | ↓ -83% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $5.65 | ↓ -83% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $5.76 | ↓ -83% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $5.84 | ↓ -83% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $5.87 | ↓ -83% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $5.93 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $5.93 | ↓ -83% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $5.98 | ↓ -82% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $6.31 | ↓ -82% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $6.31 | ↓ -82% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $6.59 | ↓ -81% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $6.59 | ↓ -81% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $6.59 | ↓ -81% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $8.24 | ↓ -76% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $8.24 | ↓ -76% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $8.61 | ↓ -75% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $10.54 | ↓ -69% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $10.87 | ↓ -68% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $10.98 | ↓ -68% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $20.53 | ↓ -40% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $24.16 | ↓ -29% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $28.88 | ↓ -15% |
| Aetna | Commercial|WEA | $35.17 | ↑ +3% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $74.22 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $77.31 | ↑ +126% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Assay of urine sulfate at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $12.40 | $1.95 – $6.90 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $12.40 | $1.95 – $10.76 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $24.80 | $4.00 – $4.00 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $58.10 | $5.49 – $10.16 |
| Kadlec Regional Medical Center | Richland | $72.80 | $5.49 – $21.47 |
| MultiCare Valley Hospital | Spokane Valley | $21.20 | $1.87 – $9.95 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $45.49 | $5.49 – $92.77 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $31.48 | $5.49 – $92.77 |