Pet image skull-thigh at Mercy Medical Center Merced
333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191
$2,386.00
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.
$4,633.00
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.
$1,527.04 with Healthsmart vs $2,386.00 with Aetna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $1,527.04 | ↓ -36% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,550.90 | ↓ -35% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $1,550.90 | ↓ -35% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $1,622.48 | ↓ -32% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $1,646.34 | ↓ -31% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| LA Care | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $1,853.28 | ↓ -22% |
| Allcare | Commercial|All Plans | $1,896.08 | ↓ -21% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1,908.80 | ↓ -20% |
| Inland Empire Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Molina | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Central California Alliance for Health | Medicaid|All Plans | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Health Plan of San Joaquin | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Health Plan of San Joaquin | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| Inland Empire Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,027.01 | ↓ -15% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,123.54 | ↓ -11% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,242.84 | ↓ -6% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|< 21 | $2,331.05 | ↓ -2% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|> 21 | $2,331.05 | ↓ -2% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|All Plans | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $2,386.00 | ↑ +0% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Pet image skull-thigh at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $2,504.10 | $2,030.33 – $6,688.23 |
| Providence Mission Hospital - Mission Viejo | Mission Viejo | $4,021.92 | $1,563.28 – $3,402.43 |
| Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta | Mt Shasta | $3,784.97 | $1,167.60 – $4,865.00 |
| Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital | Grass Valley | $3,957.79 | $1,916.73 – $7,116.76 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Orange | Orange | $3,145.44 | $1,563.28 – $3,402.43 |
| Mercy Medical Center Redding | Redding | $6,637.14 | $1,853.28 – $12,829.18 |
| St. Elizabeth Community Hospital | Red Bluff | $2,636.76 | $1,853.28 – $4,515.00 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | not published | $1,927.01 – $5,292.36 |