Red blood cells each unit at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$150.12
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.
$453.24
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.
$163.58 with Kaiser vs $719.75 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 | $163.58 | ↑ +9% |
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $163.58 | ↑ +9% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $165.22 | ↑ +10% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $168.49 | ↑ +12% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $168.49 | ↑ +12% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $168.49 | ↑ +12% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $169.84 | ↑ +13% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $175.03 | ↑ +17% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $176.67 | ↑ +18% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $176.67 | ↑ +18% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $178.30 | ↑ +19% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $188.12 | ↑ +25% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $314.07 | ↑ +109% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $323.89 | ↑ +116% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $326.34 | ↑ +117% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $327.16 | ↑ +118% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $331.66 | ↑ +121% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $339.93 | ↑ +126% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $354.09 | ↑ +136% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $368.03 | ↑ +145% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $368.74 | ↑ +146% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $405.64 | ↑ +170% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $406.02 | ↑ +170% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $479.44 | ↑ +219% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $516.17 | ↑ +244% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $543.35 | ↑ +262% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $543.35 | ↑ +262% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $611.79 | ↑ +308% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $719.75 | ↑ +379% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Red blood cells each unit at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $367.60 | $105.11 – $1,065.86 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $367.60 | $105.64 – $707.45 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | $350.70 | $150.57 – $165.63 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $156.10 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $216.96 | $150.57 – $621.93 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $350.70 | $150.57 – $503.14 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $216.96 | $150.57 – $586.99 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $216.96 | $150.57 – $621.93 |