Bld prd mix at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$74.62
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$225.29
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$50.76 with Cigna vs $854.61 with Aetna — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $50.76 | ↓ -32% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $86.05 | ↑ +15% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $162.21 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $168.97 | ↑ +126% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $194.23 | ↑ +160% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $194.23 | ↑ +160% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $196.17 | ↑ +163% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $197.08 | ↑ +164% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $200.06 | ↑ +168% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $200.06 | ↑ +168% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $200.06 | ↑ +168% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $207.83 | ↑ +179% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $209.77 | ↑ +181% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $209.77 | ↑ +181% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $211.71 | ↑ +184% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $223.36 | ↑ +199% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $372.92 | ↑ +400% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $384.58 | ↑ +415% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $388.46 | ↑ +421% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $395.39 | ↑ +430% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $422.13 | ↑ +466% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $427.86 | ↑ +473% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $470.68 | ↑ +531% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $484.04 | ↑ +549% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $571.57 | ↑ +666% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $612.90 | ↑ +721% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $645.17 | ↑ +765% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $645.17 | ↑ +765% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $726.42 | ↑ +873% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $854.61 | ↑ +1045% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Bld prd mix at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $461.60 | $18.79 – $1,236.77 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $461.60 | $18.89 – $817.83 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | $197.82 | $189.85 – $208.84 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $121.10 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $143.52 | $1.83 – $674.45 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $252.70 | $2.01 – $516.60 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $143.52 | $1.83 – $652.93 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $143.52 | $1.83 – $674.45 |