Smear fluorescent and/or acid fast stain at Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital - St. Joseph Campus
5000 W. Chambers St, Milwaukee, WI · Ascension · · NPI 1427007384
$33.92
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.
$64.00
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.
$5.39 with MEDICARE REPLACEMENT vs $23.60 with WPS — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEDICARE REPLACEMENT | 1321_MEDICARE REPLACEMENT INPATIENT 20251001 | $5.39 | ↓ -84% |
| VETERANS ADMINISTRATION | 1323_VETERAN ADMINISTRATION INPATIENT 20251001 | $5.39 | ↓ -84% |
| VETERANS ADMINISTRATION | 1208_VETERAN ADMINISTRATION OUTPATIENT 20250101 | $5.39 | ↓ -84% |
| MEDICARE REPLACEMENT | 1205_MEDICARE REPLACEMENT OUTPATIENT 20250101 | $5.39 | ↓ -84% |
| SEHN | 1171_SEHN 20241001 | $5.66 | ↓ -83% |
| CENTIVO NW3 | 1255_CENTIVO NW3 20250101 | $6.25 | ↓ -82% |
| CENTIVO NW2 | 1254_CENTIVO NW2 20250101 | $6.58 | ↓ -81% |
| CENTIVO NW1 | 1253_CENTIVO NW1 20250101 | $6.90 | ↓ -80% |
| UNITED HEALTH CARE | 1282_UNITED HEALTH CARE 20250701 | $7.49 | ↓ -78% |
| UNITED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH | 605_UNITED HEALTH CARE BEHAVIORAL 20171024 | $7.49 | ↓ -78% |
| SMART HEALTH | 1317_SMARTHEALTH INPATIENT 20251001 | $7.55 | ↓ -78% |
| SMART HEALTH | 1206_SMARTHEALTH OUTPATIENT 20250101 | $7.55 | ↓ -78% |
| ANTHEM BLUE CONNECTION | 1277_ANTHEM BLUE CONNECTION 20250701 | $7.55 | ↓ -78% |
| ANTHEM PATHWAYS | 1242_ANTHEM PATHWAYS 20250101 | $7.65 | ↓ -77% |
| ANTHEM HMO POS | 1275_ANTHEM HMO POS 20250701 | $8.35 | ↓ -75% |
| NETWORK HEALTH | 1289_NETWORK HEALTH PLAN 20250701 | $8.92 | ↓ -74% |
| CCHP | 1280_CCHP 20250701 | $11.05 | ↓ -67% |
| ALLIANCE | 1166_ALLIANCE 20241001 | $12.46 | ↓ -63% |
| ANTHEM PPO | 1276_ANTHEM PPO 20250701 | $12.67 | ↓ -63% |
| WPS | 1272_WISCONSIN PHYSICIAN SERVICES PPO 20250701 | $23.60 | ↓ -30% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Smear fluorescent and/or acid fast stain at other Wisconsin hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Milwaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) | Milwaukee | $57.77 | $5.39 – $22.91 |
| Ascension St. Francis Hospital, Inc. | Milwaukee | $33.92 | $5.39 – $23.60 |
| Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Ozaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) | Mequon | $57.77 | $5.39 – $22.91 |
| UnityPoint Health - Meriter Hospital | Madison | $71.31 | $3.23 – $32.09 |
| Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin, LLC | Glendale | $72.08 | $5.23 – $9.62 |
| SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Baraboo | Baraboo | $67.10 | $4.04 – $53.48 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Janesville | Janesville | $91.30 | $4.04 – $42.80 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Madison | Madison | $47.85 | $4.04 – $43.76 |