Brain MRI (without contrast) at Queen of The Valley Medical Center
1000 Trancas St, Napa, CA · Providence · · NPI 1013080084
$3,483.81
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.
$6,831.00
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.
$338.78 with Aetna vs $4,701.00 with Blue Cross — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $338.78 | ↓ -90% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Select/Navigate Hmo | $372.86 | ↓ -89% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $372.86 | ↓ -89% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $2,511.83 | ↓ -28% |
| Blue Cross | Epo Exchange | $3,267.16 | ↓ -6% |
| Blue Cross | Nonmcs All Commercial Plans | $3,917.52 | ↑ +12% |
| Blue Cross | Mcs Ppo | $4,701.00 | ↑ +35% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRI (without contrast) at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $2,534.27 | $307.13 – $4,513.08 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $2,251.15 | $48.34 – $3,771.36 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $4,455.87 | $321.54 – $2,585.29 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $4,188.41 | $272.77 – $7,576.38 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $7,599.73 | $272.77 – $2,907.66 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $3,337.10 | $264.33 – $2,111.00 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $2,198.92 | $272.77 – $4,741.60 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $2,175.21 | $272.77 – $4,682.33 |