Incision of windpipe at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$4,859.08
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.
$14,671.23
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.
$0.70 with Cigna vs $29,502.22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $0.70 | ↓ -100% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $6,692.17 | ↑ +38% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $6,705.05 | ↑ +38% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $6,705.05 | ↑ +38% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $6,772.10 | ↑ +39% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $6,906.20 | ↑ +42% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $6,906.20 | ↑ +42% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $6,906.20 | ↑ +42% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $7,174.40 | ↑ +48% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $7,241.45 | ↑ +49% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $7,241.45 | ↑ +49% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $7,308.50 | ↑ +50% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $7,710.81 | ↑ +59% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $9,462.54 | ↑ +95% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $10,563.29 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $11,003.43 | ↑ +126% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $12,873.70 | ↑ +165% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $13,276.00 | ↑ +173% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $13,410.10 | ↑ +176% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $13,556.25 | ↑ +179% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $14,473.21 | ↑ +198% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $14,528.71 | ↑ +199% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $15,982.70 | ↑ +229% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $16,595.73 | ↑ +242% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $19,596.85 | ↑ +303% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $21,157.82 | ↑ +335% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $22,271.71 | ↑ +358% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $22,271.71 | ↑ +358% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $25,076.89 | ↑ +416% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $29,502.22 | ↑ +507% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Incision of windpipe at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $1,455.89 – $41,996.50 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $1,463.18 – $28,416.55 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $6,475.12 | $9,242.88 – $25,165.86 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $4,479.95 | $6,308.63 – $13,204.11 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $4,462.24 | $10,563.29 – $14,528.71 |
| St. Elizabeth Hospital | Enumclaw | $5,184.29 | $2,494.11 – $13,204.11 |
| Virginia Mason Medical Center | Seattle | $7,179.78 | $28.42 – $3,951.92 |
| St. Francis Hospital | Federal Way | $4,604.18 | $10,563.29 – $14,528.71 |