Brain MRI (without contrast) at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital

420 34th St., Bakersfield, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1467538520

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$2,175.21

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.

$5,927.00

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.

$272.77 with Molina vs $4,682.33 with MultiPlan — 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
Molina Medicaid|< 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
LA Care Medicaid|> 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
LA Care Medicaid|< 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Care 1st Medicaid|> 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Care 1st Medicaid|< 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Other Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
United Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
BrightHealth Commercial|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
HPN Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -86%
HPN Commercial|All Plans $337.84 ↓ -84%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|Burn $337.84 ↓ -84%
Kern Health System Medicaid|< 21 $383.24 ↓ -82%
Kern Health System Medicaid|> 21 $383.24 ↓ -82%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $417.70 ↓ -81%
United Commercial|HMO $517.79 ↓ -76%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $517.79 ↓ -76%
United Commercial|Options PPO $517.79 ↓ -76%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $517.79 ↓ -76%
Health Net Medicaid|GemCare $657.38 ↓ -70%
Health Net Medicaid|Non-GemCare $889.23 ↓ -59%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|All Plans $965.22 ↓ -56%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,356.00 ↓ -38%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $1,356.00 ↓ -38%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $1,464.62 ↓ -33%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $1,575.17 ↓ -28%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Exchange $2,470.00 ↑ +14%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|All Other Plans $2,872.00 ↑ +32%
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans $2,963.50 ↑ +36%
CHN Sun View Commercial|All Plans $3,852.55 ↑ +77%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $3,877.00 ↑ +78%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|PremerTiered $3,911.82 ↑ +80%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $4,148.90 ↑ +91%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $4,504.52 ↑ +107%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $4,682.33 ↑ +115%

Visitor-reported prices

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Brain MRI (without contrast) at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $2,198.92 $272.77 – $4,741.60
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $2,534.27 $307.13 – $4,513.08
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $2,251.15 $48.34 – $3,771.36
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $4,455.87 $321.54 – $2,585.29
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $4,188.41 $272.77 – $7,576.38
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $7,599.73 $272.77 – $2,907.66
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $3,337.10 $264.33 – $2,111.00
Queen of The Valley Medical Center Napa $3,483.81 $338.78 – $3,267.16

All California hospitals for this procedure →