Brain image < 4 views at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital
420 34th St., Bakersfield, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1467538520
$656.20
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.
$1,788.00
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.
$168.33 with Care 1st vs $1,976.45 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 →
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care 1st | Medicaid|< 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|> 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| LA Care | Medicaid|< 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| LA Care | Medicaid|> 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|< 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| Care 1st | Medicaid|> 21 | $168.33 | ↓ -74% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $222.20 | ↓ -66% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|< 21 | $236.50 | ↓ -64% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|> 21 | $236.50 | ↓ -64% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|GemCare | $405.68 | ↓ -38% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Other Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| BrightHealth | Commercial|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| HPN | Medicare|All Plans | $510.57 | ↓ -22% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|Non-GemCare | $548.76 | ↓ -16% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|Burn | $561.63 | ↓ -14% |
| HPN | Commercial|All Plans | $561.63 | ↓ -14% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $630.92 | ↓ -4% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $678.55 | ↑ +3% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $694.38 | ↑ +6% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $848.52 | ↑ +29% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $848.52 | ↑ +29% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $848.52 | ↑ +29% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $848.52 | ↑ +29% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $866.44 | ↑ +32% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $894.00 | ↑ +36% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,007.01 | ↑ +53% |
| CHN Sun View | Commercial|All Plans | $1,162.20 | ↑ +77% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|PremerTiered | $1,180.08 | ↑ +80% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1,251.60 | ↑ +91% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $1,358.88 | ↑ +107% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $1,359.64 | ↑ +107% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,412.52 | ↑ +115% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,976.45 | ↑ +201% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $1,976.45 | ↑ +201% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain image < 4 views at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $663.35 | $168.33 – $1,976.45 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $2,986.35 | $168.33 – $2,070.74 |
| St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton | Stockton | $490.98 | $168.33 – $835.00 |
| Mercy Medical Center Merced | Merced | $996.01 | $168.33 – $848.52 |
| Northridge Hospital Medical Center | Northridge | $959.49 | $168.33 – $3,439.00 |
| California Hospital Medical Center | Los Angeles | $346.29 | $151.50 – $1,364.43 |
| St. Mary Medical Center | Long Beach | $913.32 | $151.50 – $2,124.00 |
| Community Hospital San Bernardino | San Bernardino | $225.61 | $168.33 – $1,972.88 |