Chest X-ray (single view) at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$220.14
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.
$664.66
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.
$99.80 with SoundPath vs $498.50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $99.80 | ↓ -55% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $99.80 | ↓ -55% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $100.80 | ↓ -54% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $102.79 | ↓ -53% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $102.79 | ↓ -53% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $102.79 | ↓ -53% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $106.79 | ↓ -51% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $107.78 | ↓ -51% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $107.78 | ↓ -51% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $108.78 | ↓ -51% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $108.88 | ↓ -51% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $114.77 | ↓ -48% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $127.23 | ↓ -42% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $191.62 | ↓ -13% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $197.60 | ↓ -10% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $199.60 | ↓ -9% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $210.35 | ↓ -4% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $224.58 | ↑ +2% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $236.39 | ↑ +7% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $257.51 | ↑ +17% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $260.05 | ↑ +18% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $304.08 | ↑ +38% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $314.90 | ↑ +43% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $331.48 | ↑ +51% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $331.48 | ↑ +51% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $373.25 | ↑ +70% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $439.12 | ↑ +99% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $478.56 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $498.50 | ↑ +126% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Chest X-ray (single view) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $212.40 | $40.46 – $683.31 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $212.40 | $40.66 – $417.74 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | $210.42 | not published |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $254.10 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $322.56 | $100.77 – $375.11 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $398.30 | $96.98 – $287.32 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $322.56 | $100.77 – $363.14 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $322.56 | $71.81 – $375.11 |