Potassium hydroxide preps at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital
420 34th St., Bakersfield, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1467538520
$5.51
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.
$15.00
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.
$4.65 with Care 1st vs $16.76 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 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|> 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|< 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| LA Care | Medicaid|> 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| LA Care | Medicaid|< 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| Care 1st | Medicaid|< 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $4.65 | ↓ -16% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Other Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| HPN | Medicare|All Plans | $5.83 | ↑ +6% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $6.14 | ↑ +11% |
| BrightHealth | Commercial|All Plans | $6.18 | ↑ +12% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|Burn | $6.41 | ↑ +16% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|> 21 | $6.53 | ↑ +19% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|< 21 | $6.53 | ↑ +19% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $7.00 | ↑ +27% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $7.00 | ↑ +27% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $7.00 | ↑ +27% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $7.00 | ↑ +27% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $7.50 | ↑ +36% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $7.93 | ↑ +44% |
| CHN Sun View | Commercial|All Plans | $9.75 | ↑ +77% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $9.75 | ↑ +77% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|PremerTiered | $9.90 | ↑ +80% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $10.50 | ↑ +91% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $10.95 | ↑ +99% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|GemCare | $11.21 | ↑ +103% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $11.40 | ↑ +107% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $11.85 | ↑ +115% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $12.75 | ↑ +131% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|All Other Plans | $13.50 | ↑ +145% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $15.00 | ↑ +172% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|Non-GemCare | $15.00 | ↑ +172% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $16.76 | ↑ +204% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $16.76 | ↑ +204% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Potassium hydroxide preps at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $5.57 | $4.65 – $16.76 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $114.71 | $4.65 – $16.66 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $33.97 | $4.65 – $42.14 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $105.06 | $4.59 – $17.66 |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center | Stockton | $9.71 | $1.70 – $13.60 |
| St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton | Stockton | $34.70 | $3.15 – $12.30 |
| Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta | Mt Shasta | $111.26 | $4.65 – $19.60 |
| Mercy Medical Center Merced | Merced | $7.73 | $4.35 – $14.10 |