Culture typing added method at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$26.63
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.
$80.40
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.
$7.74 with Kaiser vs $60.30 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 | $7.74 | ↓ -71% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -71% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -71% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $7.82 | ↓ -71% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $7.97 | ↓ -70% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $7.97 | ↓ -70% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $8.13 | ↓ -69% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $8.23 | ↓ -69% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $8.28 | ↓ -69% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $8.36 | ↓ -69% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $8.36 | ↓ -69% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $8.44 | ↓ -68% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $8.90 | ↓ -67% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $8.90 | ↓ -67% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $9.29 | ↓ -65% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $9.29 | ↓ -65% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $9.29 | ↓ -65% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $11.37 | ↓ -57% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $11.61 | ↓ -56% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $11.61 | ↓ -56% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $14.86 | ↓ -44% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $15.33 | ↓ -42% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $15.48 | ↓ -42% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $28.95 | ↑ +9% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $31.75 | ↑ +19% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $34.06 | ↑ +28% |
| Aetna | Commercial|WEA | $38.74 | ↑ +45% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $57.89 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $60.30 | ↑ +126% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Culture typing added method at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $14.00 | $5.09 – $18.08 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $14.00 | $5.12 – $15.17 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $34.40 | $6.00 – $6.00 |
| MultiCare Valley Hospital | Spokane Valley | $5.20 | $4.89 – $14.03 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $35.49 | $7.74 – $72.36 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $24.56 | $7.74 – $72.36 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $24.46 | $7.74 – $60.30 |
| MultiCare Auburn Medical Center | Auburn | $14.00 | $5.00 – $15.17 |