Observation per hour at Mercy Medical Center Merced
333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191
$184.89
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.
$359.00
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.
$25.00 with BCBS - Anthem vs $17,232.00 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 | $25.00 | ↓ -86% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|> 21 | $25.00 | ↓ -86% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|All Other Plans | $63.00 | ↓ -66% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $64.00 | ↓ -65% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $106.80 | ↓ -42% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $113.00 | ↓ -39% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $115.70 | ↓ -37% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $115.70 | ↓ -37% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $122.82 | ↓ -34% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $128.16 | ↓ -31% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $142.40 | ↓ -23% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $167.32 | ↓ -10% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $169.10 | ↓ -9% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $178.00 | ↓ -4% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $7,128.00 | ↑ +3755% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $8,975.00 | ↑ +4754% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $10,210.00 | ↑ +5422% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $17,232.00 | ↑ +9220% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Observation per hour at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $328.07 | $34.56 – $3,227.50 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $66.74 | $44.28 – $104.76 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $141.27 | not published |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $198.60 | $63.00 – $257.00 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $168.50 | $65.46 – $247.94 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $178.36 | $59.13 – $214.62 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $129.48 | $59.50 – $1,374.00 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $144.24 | $25.00 – $1,298.00 |