Blood Culture Test at Petaluma Valley Hospital
400 N Mcdowell Blvd, Petaluma, CA · Providence · · NPI 1235162645
$417.18
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.
$818.00
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.
$10.11 with Healthnet vs $121.10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthnet | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $10.11 | ↓ -98% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $10.32 | ↓ -98% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $20.64 | ↓ -95% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Select/Navigate Hmo | $20.64 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $72.05 | ↓ -83% |
| Blue Cross | Epo Exchange | $84.25 | ↓ -80% |
| Blue Cross | Nonmcs All Commercial Plans | $100.92 | ↓ -76% |
| Blue Cross | Mcs All Commercial Plans | $121.10 | ↓ -71% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Blood Culture Test at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $257.11 | $10.32 – $32.20 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $17.30 | $2.06 – $30.07 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $285.05 | $10.32 – $36.26 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $273.73 | $10.32 – $196.98 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $261.08 | $10.32 – $39.20 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $221.86 | $10.32 – $156.80 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $219.47 | $10.32 – $165.11 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $799.68 | $10.32 – $106.47 |