ER Visit (level 3) at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$857.14
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.
$2,588.00
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.
$307.10 with Seattle Medical Group vs $1,941.00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $307.10 | ↓ -64% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $313.84 | ↓ -63% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $313.84 | ↓ -63% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $316.98 | ↓ -63% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $323.26 | ↓ -62% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $323.26 | ↓ -62% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $323.26 | ↓ -62% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $335.81 | ↓ -61% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $338.95 | ↓ -60% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $338.95 | ↓ -60% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $342.09 | ↓ -60% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $360.92 | ↓ -58% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $602.57 | ↓ -30% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $621.40 | ↓ -28% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $627.68 | ↓ -27% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $660.49 | ↓ -23% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $705.15 | ↓ -18% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $712.99 | ↓ -17% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $784.27 | ↓ -9% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $808.56 | ↓ -6% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $904.74 | ↑ +6% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $954.80 | ↑ +11% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $990.31 | ↑ +16% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,042.45 | ↑ +22% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $1,042.45 | ↑ +22% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $1,138.72 | ↑ +33% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $1,173.76 | ↑ +37% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,380.90 | ↑ +61% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $1,863.36 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,941.00 | ↑ +126% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
ER Visit (level 3) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $702.00 | $321.58 – $1,927.16 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $702.00 | $312.21 – $1,876.79 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $345.80 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $630.72 | $316.11 – $1,087.67 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $599.20 | $304.19 – $774.17 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $630.72 | $316.11 – $1,047.46 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $630.72 | $316.99 – $1,087.67 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $1,180.80 | $451.00 – $451.00 |