ER Visit (level 5, high severity) at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$2,316.40
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.
$6,994.00
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.
$686.94 with Seattle Medical Group vs $5,245.50 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 | $686.94 | ↓ -70% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $694.91 | ↓ -70% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $694.91 | ↓ -70% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $701.86 | ↓ -70% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $715.76 | ↓ -69% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $715.76 | ↓ -69% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $715.76 | ↓ -69% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $743.55 | ↓ -68% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $750.50 | ↓ -68% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $750.50 | ↓ -68% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $757.45 | ↓ -67% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $799.15 | ↓ -66% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $1,334.23 | ↓ -42% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $1,375.92 | ↓ -41% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $1,389.82 | ↓ -40% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $1,486.86 | ↓ -36% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,587.44 | ↓ -31% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $1,594.89 | ↓ -31% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $1,754.34 | ↓ -24% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $1,820.24 | ↓ -21% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,149.40 | ↓ -7% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $2,149.88 | ↓ -7% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $2,192.80 | ↓ -5% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,308.24 | ↓ -0% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $2,308.24 | ↓ -0% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $2,598.96 | ↑ +12% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $3,057.60 | ↑ +32% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $3,077.36 | ↑ +33% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $5,035.68 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $5,245.50 | ↑ +126% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
ER Visit (level 5, high severity) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $2,462.40 | $701.55 – $4,310.89 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $2,462.40 | $681.12 – $2,537.75 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $1,095.50 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $1,272.00 | $689.62 – $2,456.96 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $2,339.40 | $663.63 – $1,688.93 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $1,272.00 | $689.62 – $2,366.15 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $1,272.00 | $691.55 – $2,456.96 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $2,623.20 | $1,398.00 – $1,398.00 |