Brain image 4+ views at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$632.89
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.
$1,910.89
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.
$610.10 with SoundPath vs $2,684.44 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 | $610.10 | ↓ -4% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $610.10 | ↓ -4% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $616.20 | ↓ -3% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $628.40 | ↓ -1% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $628.40 | ↓ -1% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $628.40 | ↓ -1% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $632.28 | ↓ -0% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $652.81 | ↑ +3% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $658.91 | ↑ +4% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $658.91 | ↑ +4% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $665.01 | ↑ +5% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $701.62 | ↑ +11% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $1,011.91 | ↑ +60% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $1,171.39 | ↑ +85% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $1,208.00 | ↑ +91% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $1,220.20 | ↑ +93% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $1,246.57 | ↑ +97% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $1,251.21 | ↑ +98% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,335.83 | ↑ +111% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $1,372.69 | ↑ +117% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $1,375.85 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,433.17 | ↑ +126% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $1,510.07 | ↑ +139% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $1,531.73 | ↑ +142% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,808.75 | ↑ +186% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $1,925.16 | ↑ +204% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,026.51 | ↑ +220% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $2,026.51 | ↑ +220% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $2,281.77 | ↑ +261% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,684.44 | ↑ +324% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Brain image 4+ views at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $482.00 | $271.16 – $3,967.89 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $482.00 | $272.52 – $2,606.40 |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $1,547.04 | $628.75 – $2,218.31 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,331.40 | $605.06 – $1,699.13 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $1,547.04 | $628.75 – $2,147.51 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $1,547.04 | $630.52 – $2,218.31 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $1,848.00 | $539.00 – $539.00 |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $1,190.00 | $478.94 – $1,119.35 |