Smear wet mount at Mercy General Hospital
4001 J St., Sacramento, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1487694857
$42.30
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.
$194.00
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.
$3.56 with Partnership Health Plan vs $155.20 with Sutter Health — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|All Plans | $3.56 | ↓ -92% |
| United | Medicaid|< 21 | $5.11 | ↓ -88% |
| United | Medicaid|> 21 | $5.11 | ↓ -88% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Other Plans | $5.49 | ↓ -87% |
| Hill Physicians | Medicaid|All Plans | $5.62 | ↓ -87% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|HMO | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| Hill Physicians | Medicare|All Plans | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| Hill Physicians | Commercial|All Plans | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|PPO | $5.82 | ↓ -86% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|Imperial | $5.99 | ↓ -86% |
| BrightHealth | Commercial|All Plans | $6.40 | ↓ -85% |
| Molina | Medicaid|All Plans | $6.69 | ↓ -84% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $6.98 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $6.98 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $6.98 | ↓ -83% |
| Prison Healthcare | Medicaid|All Plans | $8.73 | ↓ -79% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $10.01 | ↓ -76% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|All Plans | $11.86 | ↓ -72% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|All Plans | $11.86 | ↓ -72% |
| Cigna | Commercial|LocalPlus | $12.88 | ↓ -70% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $15.61 | ↓ -63% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $15.61 | ↓ -63% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $15.61 | ↓ -63% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $17.17 | ↓ -59% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Connection EPO | $60.48 | ↑ +43% |
| Western Health Advantage | Commercial|All Plans | $67.90 | ↑ +61% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $75.57 | ↑ +79% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|All Plans | $79.54 | ↑ +88% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|ACO Trio CalPers | $91.18 | ↑ +116% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $97.00 | ↑ +129% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $109.56 | ↑ +159% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|HMO | $131.92 | ↑ +212% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $139.68 | ↑ +230% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|CalPers | $141.62 | ↑ +235% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|All Other Plans | $141.62 | ↑ +235% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $145.50 | ↑ +244% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $153.26 | ↑ +262% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $155.20 | ↑ +267% |
| Sutter Health | Commercial|All Plans | $155.20 | ↑ +267% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Smear wet mount at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Methodist Hospital of Sacramento | Sacramento | $55.88 | $3.56 – $161.02 |
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $70.52 | $5.82 – $18.16 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $12.28 | $1.16 – $17.46 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $275.91 | $5.70 – $34.84 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $105.29 | $5.11 – $18.62 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $48.62 | $5.11 – $14.26 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $96.44 | $5.11 – $21.56 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $92.01 | $5.00 – $47.20 |