Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at Petaluma Valley Hospital
400 N Mcdowell Blvd, Petaluma, CA · Providence · · NPI 1235162645
$5,523.81
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$10,831.00
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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$140.89 with Healthnet vs $1,968.21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthnet | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $140.89 | ↓ -97% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $143.76 | ↓ -97% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $179.33 | ↓ -97% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Select/Navigate Hmo | $179.33 | ↓ -97% |
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $1,058.04 | ↓ -81% |
| Blue Cross | Epo Exchange | $1,369.25 | ↓ -75% |
| Blue Cross | Nonmcs All Commercial Plans | $1,640.18 | ↓ -70% |
| Blue Cross | Mcs All Commercial Plans | $1,968.21 | ↓ -64% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $1,734.48 | $135.12 – $3,088.80 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $1,396.89 | $21.27 – $2,381.35 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $3,271.21 | $135.12 – $5,692.82 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $4,476.86 | $178.35 – $1,449.42 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $2,636.20 | $123.93 – $1,768.00 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $1,795.27 | $135.12 – $3,871.20 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $1,775.92 | $135.12 – $3,822.81 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $5,683.95 | $148.44 – $1,730.40 |