UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield negotiated rates

About the payer comparison

Each payer page shows how its negotiated rates compare with the other three national payers, by state and specialty. The figures describe the specific plans and networks in the files we analyzed for each payer, listed in the last column, and not each payer's entire book of business.

The four payers

Methodology

• Source: in-network negotiated-rate files published under the federal Transparency in Coverage rule, August 2026 snapshot: UnitedHealthcare Choice plans (74 files); Aetna commercial plans (70 files); Cigna national PPO (1 files); BCBS licensees' own-network files (5,387 files). Payer comparisons describe these files, not each payer's entire book of business.
• Sample: rates come from a random sample of up to 150 providers per state and specialty. Counts on this page are sampled providers and TINs, not totals.
• Which providers count: only providers in a specialty relevant to the code, because a rate in a payer file attaches to a provider group and is listed under every provider in that group.
• Filters: fee-for-service, professional billing class, no modifier, negotiated or fee-schedule dollar rates. Rates outside 1% to 1,000% of the Medicare rate are excluded.
• Statistic: one median rate per provider, then percentiles across providers. A cell is shown only with at least 15 sampled providers and 4 TINs.
• Medicare benchmark: CY2026 national physician fee schedule, non-QPP conversion factor, unadjusted for locality. Where the non-facility rate is more than twice the facility rate (office rates that include device or supply cost), the facility rate is used so comparisons are like for like.