Brain MRI (with and without contrast) at St. Mary Medical Center

1050 Linden Ave, Long Beach, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1194840421

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

$2,788.98

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.

$6,486.00

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.

$401.56 with Noble IPA vs $5,188.80 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
Noble IPA Medicaid|< 21 $401.56 ↓ -86%
Noble IPA Medicaid|> 21 $401.56 ↓ -86%
Angeles IPA Medicare|All Plans $446.18 ↓ -84%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA < 21 $446.18 ↓ -84%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $446.18 ↓ -84%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $446.18 ↓ -84%
Preferred IPA Medicaid|Risk $446.18 ↓ -84%
Inland Empire Health Plan Medicaid|All Plans $446.18 ↓ -84%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA > 21 $446.18 ↓ -84%
SMIPA Medicare|All Plans $448.70 ↓ -84%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Other Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
HCLA Medicare|Preferred IPA $453.77 ↓ -84%
Molina Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
EasyChoice Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Health Net Medicare|All Other Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Health Net Medicare|HMO $453.77 ↓ -84%
LA Care Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Cigna Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
Central Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $453.77 ↓ -84%
United Medicare|All Plans $462.85 ↓ -83%
HPN Medicare|Senior $499.15 ↓ -82%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|Trauma $567.21 ↓ -80%
LA Care Commercial|All Plans $567.21 ↓ -80%
HCLA Commercial|Preferred IPA $567.21 ↓ -80%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $594.76 ↓ -79%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $594.76 ↓ -79%
Molina Medicaid|All Plans $624.65 ↓ -78%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $669.27 ↓ -76%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $669.27 ↓ -76%
Healthcare Partners Medicare|All Plans $695.00 ↓ -75%
SevenCorners Medicare|All Plans $726.03 ↓ -74%
Healthcare Partners Commercial|All Plans $787.00 ↓ -72%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|BlueShield Promise $799.00 ↓ -71%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $828.27 ↓ -70%
United Commercial|Options PPO $828.27 ↓ -70%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $828.27 ↓ -70%
United Commercial|HMO $828.27 ↓ -70%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|All Plans $1,367.00 ↓ -51%
DHR Medicaid|> 21 $1,621.50 ↓ -42%
DHR Medicaid|< 21 $1,621.50 ↓ -42%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Exchange $1,827.00 ↓ -34%
LA Care Medicaid|All Plans $1,838.26 ↓ -34%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,922.00 ↓ -31%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $1,922.00 ↓ -31%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $2,229.76 ↓ -20%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $2,229.76 ↓ -20%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $2,229.76 ↓ -20%
Blue Shield CA Medicaid|All Plans $2,230.90 ↓ -20%
Care 1st Medicaid|All Plans $2,230.90 ↓ -20%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|All Other Plans $2,727.00 ↓ -2%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $4,227.00 ↑ +52%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $4,540.20 ↑ +63%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $5,188.80 ↑ +86%

Visitor-reported prices

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Brain MRI (with and without contrast) at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $3,699.79 $453.77 – $6,588.66
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $3,376.73 $71.43 – $5,657.04
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $4,780.23 $470.15 – $5,091.33
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $4,627.11 $446.18 – $8,437.80
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $9,499.16 $446.18 – $3,578.96
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $3,689.90 $446.18 – $2,111.00
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $3,668.82 $446.18 – $7,911.20
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $3,629.27 $446.18 – $7,812.31

All California hospitals for this procedure →