Crystal identification light microscopy 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

$108.15

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.

$210.00

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.

$7.33 with LA Care vs $197.40 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 $7.33 ↓ -93%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
United Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $7.33 ↓ -93%
United Commercial|HMO $8.80 ↓ -92%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $8.80 ↓ -92%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $8.80 ↓ -92%
United Commercial|Options PPO $8.80 ↓ -92%
Inland Empire Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Molina Medicaid|< 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Molina Medicaid|> 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Kern Health System Medicaid|< 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Kern Health System Medicaid|> 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
California Health & Wellness Medicaid|< 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
California Health & Wellness Medicaid|> 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Central California Alliance for Health Medicaid|All Plans $9.12 ↓ -92%
Health Plan of San Joaquin Medicaid|< 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Health Plan of San Joaquin Medicaid|> 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
Inland Empire Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $9.12 ↓ -92%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|> 21 $11.35 ↓ -90%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|< 21 $11.35 ↓ -90%
Health Net Medicaid|All Plans $19.70 ↓ -82%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $43.76 ↓ -60%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $43.76 ↓ -60%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $43.76 ↓ -60%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Exchange $60.90 ↓ -44%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Exchange $76.29 ↓ -29%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|All Other Plans $81.90 ↓ -24%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|All Other Plans $100.37 ↓ -7%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $126.00 ↑ +17%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $136.50 ↑ +26%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $136.50 ↑ +26%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $144.90 ↑ +34%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $158.62 ↑ +47%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $168.00 ↑ +55%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $197.40 ↑ +83%

Visitor-reported prices

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Crystal identification light microscopy at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $77.09 $7.33 – $22.87
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $52.59 $1.47 – $73.72
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $176.46 $7.18 – $58.31
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $119.84 $7.33 – $21.56
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $104.57 $4.75 – $17.97
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $109.76 $5.94 – $22.18
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $68.64 $7.33 – $52.00
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $67.90 $7.33 – $51.35

All California hospitals for this procedure →