Upper GI Barium X-ray (barium only) at Providence St Mary Medical Center
401 W Poplar St, Walla Walla, WA · Providence · · NPI 1386895886
$1,618.40
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.
$2,312.00
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.
$162.81 with Blue Shield vs $1,150.14 with Blue Shield — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Shield | Regence Realvalue Other Commercial Plan | $162.81 | ↓ -90% |
| Kaiser | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $195.46 | ↓ -88% |
| Aetna | Gatekeeper Medicare Managed Care - Hmo | $201.32 | ↓ -88% |
| Aetna | Non-Gatekeeper Medicare Managed Care - Ppo | $203.28 | ↓ -87% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $205.23 | ↓ -87% |
| Blue Shield | Regence Medicare Managed Care Plan | $211.09 | ↓ -87% |
| Community Health Plan | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $215.00 | ↓ -87% |
| Community Health Plan | Exchange | $312.73 | ↓ -81% |
| Blue Cross | Premera - Lifewise Health Plan Of Washington Affordable Care Network Other Commercial Plan | $351.82 | ↓ -78% |
| Coordinated Care | Exchange | $361.60 | ↓ -78% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $500.15 | ↓ -69% |
| Blue Shield | Uniform Other Commercial Plan | $550.41 | ↓ -66% |
| Kaiser | All Commercial Plans | $575.03 | ↓ -64% |
| Blue Shield | Regence All Commercial Plans | $1,150.14 | ↓ -29% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Upper GI Barium X-ray (barium only) at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $424.80 | $203.11 – $856.43 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,498.00 | $195.46 – $655.99 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $424.80 | $203.11 – $829.10 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $424.80 | $203.68 – $856.43 |
| Central Medical Center | Seattle | $616.00 | $179.00 – $179.00 |
| Providence Centralia Hospital | Centralia | $935.48 | $203.11 – $1,135.23 |
| Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | Colville | $265.30 | not published |
| Kadlec Regional Medical Center | Richland | $754.60 | $195.46 – $712.48 |