Injection into brain canal at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$390.25
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.
$1,178.28
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.
$334.58 with SoundPath vs $4,556.00 with Cigna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $334.58 | ↓ -14% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $334.58 | ↓ -14% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $337.93 | ↓ -13% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $340.76 | ↓ -13% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $344.62 | ↓ -12% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $344.62 | ↓ -12% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $344.62 | ↓ -12% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $358.00 | ↓ -8% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $361.35 | ↓ -7% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $361.35 | ↓ -7% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $364.69 | ↓ -7% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $384.77 | ↓ -1% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $642.39 | ↑ +65% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $662.47 | ↑ +70% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $669.16 | ↑ +71% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $685.62 | ↑ +76% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $732.00 | ↑ +88% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $739.79 | ↑ +90% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $813.82 | ↑ +109% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $839.35 | ↑ +115% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $848.37 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $883.71 | ↑ +126% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $991.13 | ↑ +154% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $1,055.79 | ↑ +171% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,111.37 | ↑ +185% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $1,111.37 | ↑ +185% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $1,251.33 | ↑ +221% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,472.15 | ↑ +277% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $2,839.18 | ↑ +628% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $4,556.00 | ↑ +1067% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Injection into brain canal at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $1,319.20 | $307.61 – $2,138.41 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $1,319.20 | $309.15 – $1,473.43 |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $911.04 | $355.45 – $1,230.32 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $5,435.50 | $342.05 – $870.52 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $911.04 | $355.45 – $1,191.05 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $911.04 | $356.44 – $1,230.32 |
| Providence Holy Family Hospital | Spokane | $1,722.00 | $342.05 – $3,379.00 |
| Providence Regional Medical Center Everett - Colby Campus | Everett | $1,463.28 | $349.56 – $5,987.00 |