Obtaining screen pap smear at Mercy Medical Center Merced
333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191
$27.30
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.
$53.00
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.
$29.60 with United vs $53.00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $29.60 | ↑ +8% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $29.60 | ↑ +8% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $29.60 | ↑ +8% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $29.60 | ↑ +8% |
| Allcare | Commercial|All Plans | $30.21 | ↑ +11% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| LA Care | Medicare|All Plans | $31.12 | ↑ +14% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $31.80 | ↑ +16% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $34.45 | ↑ +26% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $34.45 | ↑ +26% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $36.04 | ↑ +32% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $36.57 | ↑ +34% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $42.40 | ↑ +55% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $47.17 | ↑ +73% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $49.82 | ↑ +82% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $53.00 | ↑ +94% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Obtaining screen pap smear at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healdsburg Hospital | Healdsburg | $73.95 | $38.97 – $139.84 |
| Redwood Memorial Hospital | Fortuna | $39.78 | $351.38 – $351.38 |
| Mercy Medical Center Redding | Redding | $12.17 | $18.24 – $24.00 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | not published | $38.98 – $244.61 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | not published | $41.07 – $309.13 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | not published | $37.20 – $350.56 |
| Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital | Santa Rosa | not published | $40.25 – $263.00 |
| Providence Mission Hospital - Mission Viejo | Mission Viejo | not published | $31.62 – $68.82 |