Esophagus motility study at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$652.58
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.
$1,970.35
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.
$601.40 with Kaiser vs $2,646.16 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 | $601.40 | ↓ -8% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $601.40 | ↓ -8% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $605.88 | ↓ -7% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $607.41 | ↓ -7% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $619.44 | ↓ -5% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $619.44 | ↓ -5% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $619.44 | ↓ -5% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $643.50 | ↓ -1% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $649.51 | ↓ -0% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $649.51 | ↓ -0% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $655.53 | ↑ +0% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $691.61 | ↑ +6% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $988.15 | ↑ +51% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $1,154.69 | ↑ +77% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $1,190.77 | ↑ +82% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $1,202.80 | ↑ +84% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $1,240.72 | ↑ +90% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $1,315.36 | ↑ +102% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,324.65 | ↑ +103% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $1,418.66 | ↑ +117% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $1,447.00 | ↑ +122% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,477.77 | ↑ +126% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $1,518.92 | ↑ +133% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,793.58 | ↑ +175% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $1,897.73 | ↑ +191% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,997.64 | ↑ +206% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $1,997.64 | ↑ +206% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $2,249.24 | ↑ +245% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,646.16 | ↑ +305% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Esophagus motility study at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $439.59 – $3,802.18 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $426.79 – $2,238.28 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $596.40 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $1,503.36 | $432.11 – $2,282.37 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,550.50 | $415.83 – $1,748.20 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $1,503.36 | $432.11 – $2,209.53 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $1,503.36 | $433.33 – $2,282.37 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $1,917.60 | not published |