Lactation class 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

$178.45

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.

$415.00

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.

$103.75 with DHR vs $6,343.00 with United — 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
DHR Medicaid|> 21 $103.75 ↓ -42%
DHR Medicaid|< 21 $103.75 ↓ -42%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $240.70 ↑ +35%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|BlueShield Promise $269.75 ↑ +51%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $290.50 ↑ +63%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $332.00 ↑ +86%
SMIPA Medicare|All Plans $415.00 ↑ +133%
United Commercial|HMO $6,243.00 ↑ +3398%
United Commercial|Options PPO $6,343.00 ↑ +3454%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $6,343.00 ↑ +3454%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lactation class at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $24.40 $20.00 – $40.00
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $22.74 $10.80 – $39.20
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $161.39 $217.50 – $348.00
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $159.65 $217.50 – $435.00
St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton Stockton $104.96 $74.97 – $292.74
Mercy Medical Center Merced Merced $213.73 $249.00 – $415.00
Sequoia Hospital Redwood City $175.45 $30.10 – $19,277.00
Community Hospital San Bernardino San Bernardino $178.69 $251.35 – $8,268.00

All California hospitals for this procedure →