Core ndl bx lng/med perq at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$2,195.75
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.
$6,629.72
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.
$1,836.44 with Kaiser vs $8,080.34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $1,836.44 | ↓ -16% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $1,836.44 | ↓ -16% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $1,854.80 | ↓ -16% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $1,879.38 | ↓ -14% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $1,891.53 | ↓ -14% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $1,891.53 | ↓ -14% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $1,891.53 | ↓ -14% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $1,964.99 | ↓ -11% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $1,983.36 | ↓ -10% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $1,983.36 | ↓ -10% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $2,001.72 | ↓ -9% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $2,111.91 | ↓ -4% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $3,525.96 | ↑ +61% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $3,636.15 | ↑ +66% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $3,672.88 | ↑ +67% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $3,753.06 | ↑ +71% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $4,006.93 | ↑ +82% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $4,080.13 | ↑ +86% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $4,488.45 | ↑ +104% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $4,594.55 | ↑ +109% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $4,773.40 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $4,972.29 | ↑ +126% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5,425.41 | ↑ +147% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $5,794.90 | ↑ +164% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $6,099.99 | ↑ +178% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $6,099.99 | ↑ +178% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $6,868.29 | ↑ +213% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $8,080.34 | ↑ +268% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Core ndl bx lng/med perq at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $1,725.60 | $673.13 – $11,793.96 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $1,725.60 | $676.50 – $7,928.07 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $2,244.20 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $5,077.44 | $1,912.53 – $5,810.27 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $3,609.20 | $1,840.45 – $4,683.94 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $5,077.44 | $1,912.53 – $4,475.33 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $5,077.44 | $1,917.90 – $4,257.73 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $4,720.00 | not published |