Frozen blood prep at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$127.75
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.
$385.70
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.
$162.87 with First Choice vs $970.13 with Kaiser — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $162.87 | ↑ +27% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $181.39 | ↑ +42% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $194.23 | ↑ +52% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $194.23 | ↑ +52% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $196.17 | ↑ +54% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $200.06 | ↑ +57% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $200.06 | ↑ +57% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $200.06 | ↑ +57% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $207.83 | ↑ +63% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $209.77 | ↑ +64% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $209.77 | ↑ +64% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $211.71 | ↑ +66% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $223.36 | ↑ +75% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $277.71 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $289.28 | ↑ +126% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $372.92 | ↑ +192% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $384.58 | ↑ +201% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $388.46 | ↑ +204% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $395.39 | ↑ +210% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $406.20 | ↑ +218% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $422.13 | ↑ +230% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $484.04 | ↑ +279% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $571.57 | ↑ +347% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $612.90 | ↑ +380% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $645.17 | ↑ +405% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $645.17 | ↑ +405% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $726.42 | ↑ +469% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $854.61 | ↑ +569% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $881.87 | ↑ +590% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $970.13 | ↑ +659% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Frozen blood prep at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $18.79 – $2,549.13 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $18.89 – $1,500.63 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $504.80 | $172.00 – $172.00 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $170.23 | $243.00 – $1,527.53 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $117.78 | $165.86 – $347.13 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $117.32 | $162.87 – $881.87 |
| St. Elizabeth Hospital | Enumclaw | $136.30 | $65.57 – $347.13 |
| Virginia Mason Medical Center | Seattle | $324.36 | $960.01 – $960.01 |