Dilate esophagus at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$710.05
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.
$2,143.87
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.
$1,543.59 with Aetna vs $9,460.53 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $1,543.59 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,607.91 | ↑ +126% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $2,150.12 | ↑ +203% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $2,150.12 | ↑ +203% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $2,171.62 | ↑ +206% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $2,182.72 | ↑ +207% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $2,214.62 | ↑ +212% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $2,214.62 | ↑ +212% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $2,214.62 | ↑ +212% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $2,300.63 | ↑ +224% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $2,322.13 | ↑ +227% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $2,322.13 | ↑ +227% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $2,343.63 | ↑ +230% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $2,472.64 | ↑ +248% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $2,501.00 | ↑ +252% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $4,128.23 | ↑ +481% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $4,257.24 | ↑ +500% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $4,300.24 | ↑ +506% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $4,404.78 | ↑ +520% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $4,556.00 | ↑ +542% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $4,702.71 | ↑ +562% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $4,738.69 | ↑ +567% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $5,212.93 | ↑ +634% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $5,392.38 | ↑ +659% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $6,367.53 | ↑ +797% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $6,784.74 | ↑ +856% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $7,141.93 | ↑ +906% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $7,141.93 | ↑ +906% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $8,041.45 | ↑ +1033% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $9,460.53 | ↑ +1232% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Dilate esophagus at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $475.15 – $13,697.61 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $477.53 – $9,211.19 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $946.20 | $1,350.64 – $8,208.11 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $654.65 | $921.87 – $1,929.49 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $652.06 | $1,543.59 – $4,738.69 |
| St. Elizabeth Hospital | Enumclaw | $757.57 | $364.46 – $1,929.49 |
| Virginia Mason Medical Center | Seattle | $2,472.48 | $3.28 – $776.70 |
| St. Francis Hospital | Federal Way | $672.80 | $1,543.59 – $4,738.69 |