Blood smear microscopic w manual differential wbc count at Mercy Medical Center Merced

333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191

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

$105.06

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.

$204.00

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.

$3.80 with LA Care vs $153.22 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
LA Care Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
United Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $3.80 ↓ -96%
Inland Empire Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Molina Medicaid|< 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Molina Medicaid|> 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Kern Health System Medicaid|< 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Kern Health System Medicaid|> 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
California Health & Wellness Medicaid|< 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
California Health & Wellness Medicaid|> 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Central California Alliance for Health Medicaid|All Plans $3.89 ↓ -96%
Health Plan of San Joaquin Medicaid|< 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Health Plan of San Joaquin Medicaid|> 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
Inland Empire Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $3.89 ↓ -96%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|< 21 $4.37 ↓ -96%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|> 21 $4.37 ↓ -96%
United Commercial|Options PPO $4.56 ↓ -96%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $4.56 ↓ -96%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $4.56 ↓ -96%
United Commercial|HMO $4.56 ↓ -96%
Health Net Medicaid|All Plans $8.40 ↓ -92%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $21.07 ↓ -80%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $21.07 ↓ -80%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $21.07 ↓ -80%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Exchange $36.74 ↓ -65%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Exchange $47.27 ↓ -55%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|All Other Plans $48.34 ↓ -54%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|All Other Plans $63.57 ↓ -39%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $76.39 ↓ -27%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $97.80 ↓ -7%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $105.95 ↑ +1%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $105.95 ↑ +1%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $112.47 ↑ +7%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $130.40 ↑ +24%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $153.22 ↑ +46%

Visitor-reported prices

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Blood smear microscopic w manual differential wbc count at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $67.02 $3.80 – $11.86
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $32.18 $0.76 – $52.38
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $141.57 $3.80 – $10.78
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $36.63 $3.80 – $53.90
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $129.66 $2.97 – $11.51
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $72.72 $3.80 – $18.40
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $71.94 $3.80 – $18.17
St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton $114.20 $3.80 – $124.00

All California hospitals for this procedure →