Biopsy skin incisional single lesion at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$559.82
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.
$1,690.27
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.
$693.81 with SoundPath vs $3,052.76 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $693.81 | ↑ +24% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $693.81 | ↑ +24% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $700.75 | ↑ +25% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $714.62 | ↑ +28% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $714.62 | ↑ +28% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $714.62 | ↑ +28% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $728.10 | ↑ +30% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $742.38 | ↑ +33% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $749.31 | ↑ +34% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $749.31 | ↑ +34% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $756.25 | ↑ +35% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $797.88 | ↑ +43% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $1,217.00 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,267.71 | ↑ +126% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $1,332.12 | ↑ +138% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $1,373.74 | ↑ +145% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $1,387.62 | ↑ +148% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $1,453.85 | ↑ +160% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,552.19 | ↑ +177% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $1,580.71 | ↑ +182% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $1,738.90 | ↑ +211% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $1,779.82 | ↑ +218% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,101.68 | ↑ +275% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $2,189.32 | ↑ +291% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $2,304.58 | ↑ +312% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,304.58 | ↑ +312% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $2,594.85 | ↑ +364% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,052.76 | ↑ +445% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Biopsy skin incisional single lesion at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $415.20 | $314.86 – $4,569.17 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $415.20 | $316.43 – $3,547.71 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $868.70 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $1,160.16 | $855.84 – $2,600.04 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,375.50 | $823.58 – $2,096.01 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $1,160.16 | $855.84 – $2,002.66 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $1,160.16 | $858.24 – $1,905.29 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $960.44 | $855.84 – $1,869.13 |