Brain MRI (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

$2,081.20

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.

$4,840.00

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.

$245.49 with Noble IPA vs $4,227.00 with BCBS - Anthem — 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 $245.49 ↓ -88%
Noble IPA Medicaid|< 21 $245.49 ↓ -88%
Preferred IPA Medicaid|Risk $272.77 ↓ -87%
Angeles IPA Medicare|All Plans $272.77 ↓ -87%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA < 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA > 21 $272.77 ↓ -87%
Inland Empire Health Plan Medicaid|All Plans $272.77 ↓ -87%
SMIPA Medicare|All Plans $273.84 ↓ -87%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
Central Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
HCLA Medicare|Preferred IPA $307.13 ↓ -85%
Molina Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
EasyChoice Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
Health Net Medicare|All Other Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
Health Net Medicare|HMO $307.13 ↓ -85%
LA Care Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
Cigna Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Other Plans $307.13 ↓ -85%
United Medicare|All Plans $313.28 ↓ -85%
HPN Medicare|Senior $337.84 ↓ -84%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $363.60 ↓ -83%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $363.60 ↓ -83%
Molina Medicaid|All Plans $381.88 ↓ -82%
LA Care Commercial|All Plans $383.91 ↓ -82%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|Trauma $383.91 ↓ -82%
HCLA Commercial|Preferred IPA $383.91 ↓ -82%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $409.15 ↓ -80%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $409.15 ↓ -80%
SevenCorners Medicare|All Plans $491.41 ↓ -76%
United Commercial|Options PPO $517.79 ↓ -75%
United Commercial|HMO $517.79 ↓ -75%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $517.79 ↓ -75%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $517.79 ↓ -75%
Healthcare Partners Medicare|All Plans $695.00 ↓ -67%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|All Plans $731.23 ↓ -65%
Healthcare Partners Commercial|All Plans $787.00 ↓ -62%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|BlueShield Promise $799.00 ↓ -62%
LA Care Medicaid|All Plans $1,123.81 ↓ -46%
DHR Medicaid|< 21 $1,210.00 ↓ -42%
DHR Medicaid|> 21 $1,210.00 ↓ -42%
Care 1st Medicaid|All Plans $1,363.85 ↓ -34%
Blue Shield CA Medicaid|All Plans $1,363.85 ↓ -34%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Exchange $1,827.00 ↓ -12%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,922.00 ↓ -8%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $1,922.00 ↓ -8%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $2,229.76 ↑ +7%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $2,229.76 ↑ +7%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $2,229.76 ↑ +7%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|All Other Plans $2,727.00 ↑ +31%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $3,388.00 ↑ +63%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $3,872.00 ↑ +86%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $4,227.00 ↑ +103%

Visitor-reported prices

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Brain MRI (without contrast) at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
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
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $2,198.92 $272.77 – $4,741.60
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $2,175.21 $272.77 – $4,682.33

All California hospitals for this procedure →