Skin Biopsy at Mercy Medical Center Merced
333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191
$355.87
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.
$691.00
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.
$71.48 with Health Plan of San Joaquin vs $8,557.00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Plan of San Joaquin | Medicaid|> 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|> 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Health Plan of San Joaquin | Medicaid|< 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|< 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Inland Empire Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Central California Alliance for Health | Medicaid|All Plans | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|> 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Molina | Medicaid|> 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|< 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Inland Empire Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|> 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Kern Health System | Medicaid|< 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $71.48 | ↓ -80% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|> 21 | $102.75 | ↓ -71% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|< 21 | $102.75 | ↓ -71% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|All Plans | $154.40 | ↓ -57% |
| Allcare | Commercial|All Plans | $229.58 | ↓ -35% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| LA Care | Medicare|All Plans | $252.47 | ↓ -29% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $345.50 | ↓ -3% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $414.60 | ↑ +17% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $449.15 | ↑ +26% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $449.15 | ↑ +26% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $476.79 | ↑ +34% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $552.80 | ↑ +55% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $649.54 | ↑ +83% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $684.09 | ↑ +92% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $691.00 | ↑ +94% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $691.00 | ↑ +94% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $691.00 | ↑ +94% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $4,116.00 | ↑ +1057% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5,322.00 | ↑ +1395% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $5,322.00 | ↑ +1395% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $5,322.00 | ↑ +1395% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5,416.00 | ↑ +1422% |
| Health Net | Commercial|Care Product | $6,629.00 | ↑ +1763% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $7,546.00 | ↑ +2020% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $8,557.00 | ↑ +2305% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Skin Biopsy at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $1,126.73 | $108.14 – $596.00 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $365.67 | $547.82 – $2,570.00 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $1,110.24 | $71.48 – $2,542.12 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $74.60 | $27.69 – $104.86 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $1,016.85 | $71.48 – $2,173.64 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $155.08 | $71.48 – $334.40 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $153.41 | $71.48 – $330.22 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $406.98 | $577.20 – $7,483.00 |