Carotene at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$71.82
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.
$216.84
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.
$9.22 with Kaiser vs $162.63 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 | $9.22 | ↓ -87% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $9.22 | ↓ -87% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $9.22 | ↓ -87% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $9.31 | ↓ -87% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $9.50 | ↓ -87% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $9.50 | ↓ -87% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $9.68 | ↓ -87% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $9.80 | ↓ -86% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $9.87 | ↓ -86% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $9.96 | ↓ -86% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $9.96 | ↓ -86% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $10.05 | ↓ -86% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $10.60 | ↓ -85% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $10.60 | ↓ -85% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $11.06 | ↓ -85% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $11.06 | ↓ -85% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $11.06 | ↓ -85% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $13.83 | ↓ -81% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $13.83 | ↓ -81% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $16.72 | ↓ -77% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $17.70 | ↓ -75% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $18.26 | ↓ -75% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $18.44 | ↓ -74% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $34.48 | ↓ -52% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $40.57 | ↓ -44% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $56.03 | ↓ -22% |
| Aetna | Commercial|WEA | $68.39 | ↓ -5% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $156.13 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $162.63 | ↑ +126% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Carotene at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $23.20 | $3.45 – $12.25 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $23.20 | $3.47 – $18.07 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $101.50 | not published |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $221.90 | $9.22 – $33.19 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $41.60 | $7.00 – $7.00 |
| Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | Colville | $146.30 | not published |
| Providence St Mary Medical Center | Walla Walla | $33.60 | $9.22 – $17.06 |
| Providence Holy Family Hospital | Spokane | $114.10 | $9.22 – $39.36 |