Contrast x-ray of brain at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$981.11
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.
$2,962.29
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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$404.79 with SoundPath vs $2,560.63 with First Choice — 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 | $404.79 | ↓ -59% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $404.79 | ↓ -59% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $408.84 | ↓ -58% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $416.93 | ↓ -58% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $416.93 | ↓ -58% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $416.93 | ↓ -58% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $433.13 | ↓ -56% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $437.17 | ↓ -55% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $437.17 | ↓ -55% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $441.22 | ↓ -55% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $461.75 | ↓ -53% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $465.51 | ↓ -53% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $777.20 | ↓ -21% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $801.48 | ↓ -18% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $809.58 | ↓ -17% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $890.24 | ↓ -9% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $934.73 | ↓ -5% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $950.46 | ↓ -3% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $1,002.46 | ↑ +2% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $1,089.84 | ↑ +11% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $1,102.78 | ↑ +12% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $1,277.31 | ↑ +30% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,286.92 | ↑ +31% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,344.55 | ↑ +37% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $1,344.55 | ↑ +37% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $1,513.91 | ↑ +54% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,781.08 | ↑ +82% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $2,132.85 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,221.72 | ↑ +126% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $2,560.63 | ↑ +161% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Contrast x-ray of brain at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $410.98 – $2,897.70 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $399.01 – $1,705.83 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $2,833.60 | $388.77 – $1,374.66 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $1,433.60 | $358.00 – $358.00 |
| Providence Regional Medical Center Everett - Colby Campus | Everett | $1,287.00 | $165.53 – $1,603.77 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $1,307.41 | $1,736.41 – $2,666.07 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $904.56 | $934.73 – $2,718.82 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $900.98 | $934.73 – $2,560.63 |