Mra, without dye, spinal canal at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$1,358.77
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.
$4,102.58
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.
$273.98 with SoundPath vs $3,076.94 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $273.98 | ↓ -80% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $273.98 | ↓ -80% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $276.72 | ↓ -80% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $282.20 | ↓ -79% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $282.20 | ↓ -79% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $282.20 | ↓ -79% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $292.66 | ↓ -78% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $293.16 | ↓ -78% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $295.90 | ↓ -78% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $295.90 | ↓ -78% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $298.64 | ↓ -78% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $315.08 | ↓ -77% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Plans | $518.84 | ↓ -62% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $526.04 | ↓ -61% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $542.48 | ↓ -60% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $547.96 | ↓ -60% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $567.22 | ↓ -58% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $605.60 | ↓ -55% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $635.38 | ↓ -53% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $694.41 | ↓ -49% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $698.97 | ↓ -49% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $819.98 | ↓ -40% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $864.53 | ↓ -36% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $910.04 | ↓ -33% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $910.04 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $1,024.69 | ↓ -25% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,205.51 | ↓ -11% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $1,752.97 | ↑ +29% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $2,953.86 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $3,076.94 | ↑ +126% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Mra, without dye, spinal canal at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $281.08 – $1,836.63 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | not published | $272.89 – $1,145.33 |
| St. Michael Medical Center | Silverdale | $1,810.67 | $1,012.37 – $3,692.33 |
| St. Anne Hospital | Burien | $1,252.75 | $518.84 – $3,692.33 |
| St. Anthony Hospital | Gig Harbor | $1,247.80 | $518.84 – $3,076.94 |
| St. Elizabeth Hospital | Enumclaw | $1,449.71 | $518.84 – $3,692.33 |
| Virginia Mason Medical Center | Seattle | $898.11 | $691.69 – $691.69 |
| St. Francis Hospital | Federal Way | $1,287.49 | $518.84 – $3,076.94 |