Fern test at Mercy Medical Center Merced
333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191
$67.98
Cash price 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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$132.00
Gross charge 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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$9.74 with Humana vs $132.00 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 →
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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 ?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 ?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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| LA Care | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -86% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $11.69 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $11.69 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $11.69 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $11.69 | ↓ -83% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $38.28 | ↓ -44% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|All Other Plans | $51.48 | ↓ -24% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $76.65 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $79.20 | ↑ +17% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $85.80 | ↑ +26% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $85.80 | ↑ +26% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $91.08 | ↑ +34% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $100.84 | ↑ +48% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $105.60 | ↑ +55% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $124.08 | ↑ +83% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $132.00 | ↑ +94% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Fern test at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $41.32 | $1.95 – $64.02 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $47.86 | $9.74 – $86.40 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $47.35 | $9.74 – $85.32 |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center | Stockton | $65.67 | $9.74 – $92.00 |
| St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton | Stockton | $76.74 | $8.28 – $214.02 |
| Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital | Grass Valley | $70.85 | $9.74 – $124.46 |
| California Hospital Medical Center | Los Angeles | $16.98 | $8.40 – $27.65 |
| St. Mary Medical Center | Long Beach | $71.38 | $9.74 – $42.40 |