Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at Petaluma Valley Hospital
400 N Mcdowell Blvd, Petaluma, CA · Providence · · NPI 1235162645
$6,076.14
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.
$11,914.00
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.
$470.15 with Healthnet vs $2,353.08 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 | $470.15 | ↓ -92% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $479.74 | ↓ -92% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $610.96 | ↓ -90% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Select/Navigate Hmo | $610.96 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $1,365.90 | ↓ -78% |
| Blue Cross | Epo Exchange | $1,637.00 | ↓ -73% |
| Blue Cross | Nonmcs All Commercial Plans | $1,960.91 | ↓ -68% |
| Blue Cross | Mcs All Commercial Plans | $2,353.08 | ↓ -61% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $1,543.52 | $353.90 – $2,748.72 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $1,746.26 | $71.43 – $2,976.93 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $3,402.18 | $233.92 – $5,917.24 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $5,641.02 | $233.92 – $1,778.70 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $2,726.36 | $233.92 – $1,768.00 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $3,536.75 | $233.92 – $7,626.40 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $3,498.62 | $233.92 – $7,531.07 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $6,166.41 | $495.35 – $2,068.77 |