Repair elbow deb/attch open at St. Joseph Medical Center

1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$2,980.78

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$9,000.00

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$3,677.57 with SoundPath vs $16,415.00 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 →

Payer
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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
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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 $3,677.57 ↑ +23%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $3,677.57 ↑ +23%
Optum Medicare|All Plans $3,714.35 ↑ +25%
Seattle Medical Group Medicare|All Plans $3,730.62 ↑ +25%
BCBS - Regence Medicare|All Plans $3,787.90 ↑ +27%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $3,787.90 ↑ +27%
BCBS - Premera Medicare|All Plans $3,787.90 ↑ +27%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $3,935.00 ↑ +32%
Molina Medicare|All Plans $3,971.78 ↑ +33%
United Medicare|All Plans $3,971.78 ↑ +33%
Amerigroup Medicare|All Plans $4,008.55 ↑ +34%
CHPW Medicare|All Plans $4,229.21 ↑ +42%
Aetna Commercial|Rental $6,480.00 ↑ +117%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $6,750.00 ↑ +126%
Molina Commercial|Marketplace Exchange $7,060.93 ↑ +137%
Coordinated Care Commercial|Ambetter Exchange $7,281.59 ↑ +144%
Sound Family Medicine Commercial|All Plans $7,355.14 ↑ +147%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange $7,492.85 ↑ +151%
Uniform Medical Plan Commercial|All Plans $7,999.67 ↑ +168%
Kaiser Commercial|HMO $8,099.19 ↑ +172%
Kaiser Commercial|PPO $8,909.74 ↑ +199%
BCBS - Regence Commercial|All Plans $9,172.83 ↑ +208%
BCBS - Premera Commercial|All Other Plans $10,831.64 ↑ +263%
United Commercial|Navigate $11,604.61 ↑ +289%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $12,215.55 ↑ +310%
United Commercial|Cascade Care $12,215.55 ↑ +310%
First Choice Commercial|All Plans $12,310.14 ↑ +313%
Aetna Commercial|AWH $13,754.11 ↑ +361%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $16,181.31 ↑ +443%
Cigna Commercial|All Plans $16,415.00 ↑ +451%

Visitor-reported prices

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Repair elbow deb/attch open at other Washington hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital Tacoma not published $1,222.29 – $23,411.43
MultiCare Allenmore Hospital Tacoma not published $1,228.41 – $15,706.36
St. Michael Medical Center Silverdale $3,972.14 $5,670.00 – $14,029.00
St. Anne Hospital Burien $2,748.20 $3,870.00 – $8,100.00
St. Anthony Hospital Gig Harbor $2,737.34 $6,480.00 – $8,099.19
St. Elizabeth Hospital Enumclaw $3,180.28 $1,530.00 – $8,100.00
Virginia Mason Medical Center Seattle $4,577.25 $9.72 – $2,863.64
St. Francis Hospital Federal Way $2,824.41 $6,480.00 – $8,099.19

All Washington hospitals for this procedure →