Version cephalic external at Mercy Medical Center Merced
333 Mercy Ave., Merced, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1518018191
$1,321.49
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,566.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$1,539.60 with Healthsmart vs $16,193.00 with Health Net — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | $1,539.60 | ↑ +17% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $1,667.90 | ↑ +26% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,667.90 | ↑ +26% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $1,770.54 | ↑ +34% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $2,052.80 | ↑ +55% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,412.04 | ↑ +83% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| LA Care | Medicare|All Plans | $2,566.00 | ↑ +94% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $4,039.91 | ↑ +206% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $4,039.91 | ↑ +206% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Exchange | $4,116.00 | ↑ +211% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5,416.00 | ↑ +310% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $8,557.00 | ↑ +548% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $9,362.00 | ↑ +608% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $9,722.00 | ↑ +636% |
| Health Net | Commercial|Care Product | $14,225.00 | ↑ +976% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $14,950.00 | ↑ +1031% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $16,193.00 | ↑ +1125% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Version cephalic external at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $1,022.30 | $630.18 – $4,668.00 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $841.85 | $305.45 – $722.65 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $5,382.54 | $593.00 – $6,619.00 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $3,393.19 | $3,964.00 – $7,769.44 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $2,623.66 | $1,807.11 – $6,559.14 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $1,699.93 | $2,291.00 – $4,039.91 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $1,681.60 | $2,291.00 – $4,039.91 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $6,230.16 | $1,727.00 – $16,652.00 |