Folic acid 5 mg/ml injection solution at Mercy Medical Center Merced
333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191
$154.50
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.
$300.00
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.
$21.75 with BCBS - Anthem vs $87.00 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 →
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|< 21 | $21.75 | ↓ -86% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|> 21 | $21.75 | ↓ -86% |
| Central California Alliance for Health | Medicaid|All Plans | $26.10 | ↓ -83% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $52.20 | ↓ -66% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $56.55 | ↓ -63% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $56.55 | ↓ -63% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $60.03 | ↓ -61% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $62.64 | ↓ -59% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $69.60 | ↓ -55% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $81.78 | ↓ -47% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $81.78 | ↓ -47% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $86.13 | ↓ -44% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $87.00 | ↓ -44% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $87.00 | ↓ -44% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $87.00 | ↓ -44% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $87.00 | ↓ -44% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Folic acid 5 mg/ml injection solution at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $101.18 | $18.09 – $52.26 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $84.15 | $0.13 – $0.13 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $328.28 | $24.30 – $52.92 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $30.19 | $14.58 – $52.92 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $113.53 | $35.60 – $89.00 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $11.38 | $7.75 – $31.00 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $84.15 | $0.13 – $0.13 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | $84.15 | $0.12 – $0.13 |