Chest X-ray at Petaluma Valley Hospital
400 N Mcdowell Blvd, Petaluma, CA · Providence · · NPI 1235162645
$1,100.58
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.
$2,158.00
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.
$106.75 with Aetna vs $260.22 with Blue Cross — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $106.75 | ↓ -90% |
| Healthnet | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $117.28 | ↓ -89% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $119.67 | ↓ -89% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $127.70 | ↓ -88% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Select/Navigate Hmo | $127.70 | ↓ -88% |
| Blue Cross | Epo Exchange | $181.03 | ↓ -84% |
| Blue Cross | Nonmcs All Commercial Plans | $216.85 | ↓ -80% |
| Blue Cross | Mcs All Commercial Plans | $260.22 | ↓ -76% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Chest X-ray at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $295.22 | $41.56 – $525.72 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $314.25 | $17.61 – $486.94 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $580.80 | $27.47 – $1,158.36 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $460.88 | $27.47 – $170.52 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $573.11 | $27.47 – $720.30 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $319.81 | $27.47 – $689.60 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $316.36 | $27.47 – $680.98 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $1,026.63 | $123.56 – $237.25 |