Biopsy of heart lining at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$1,395.78
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.
$4,214.34
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.
$3,034.33 with Aetna vs $15,697.00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $3,034.33 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $3,160.76 | ↑ +126% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $3,567.50 | ↑ +156% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $3,567.50 | ↑ +156% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $3,603.18 | ↑ +158% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $3,674.53 | ↑ +163% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $3,674.53 | ↑ +163% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $3,674.53 | ↑ +163% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $3,733.52 | ↑ +167% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $3,817.22 | ↑ +173% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $3,852.90 | ↑ +176% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $3,852.90 | ↑ +176% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $3,888.57 | ↑ +179% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $4,102.63 | ↑ +194% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $6,233.26 | ↑ +347% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $6,725.00 | ↑ +382% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $6,849.60 | ↑ +391% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $7,063.65 | ↑ +406% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $7,135.00 | ↑ +411% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $7,378.61 | ↑ +429% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $7,877.70 | ↑ +464% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $8,105.48 | ↑ +481% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $8,916.65 | ↑ +539% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $9,032.98 | ↑ +547% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $10,666.49 | ↑ +664% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $11,257.27 | ↑ +707% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $11,849.93 | ↑ +749% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $11,849.93 | ↑ +749% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $13,342.45 | ↑ +856% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $15,697.00 | ↑ +1025% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Biopsy of heart lining at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $5,991.60 | $1,663.47 – $23,429.60 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $5,991.60 | $1,671.79 – $15,156.63 |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $8,451.84 | $3,656.33 – $13,496.13 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $3,942.40 | $3,518.52 – $8,954.64 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $8,451.84 | $3,656.33 – $12,997.30 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $8,451.84 | $3,666.59 – $13,496.13 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $6,150.40 | not published |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $4,561.90 | $2,824.42 – $6,509.26 |