Tissue culture skin/biopsy at Mercy General Hospital
4001 J St., Sacramento, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1487694857
$43.17
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.
$198.00
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.
$33.25 with Western Health Advantage vs $415.55 with Cigna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Health Advantage | Commercial|All Plans | $33.25 | ↓ -23% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|All Plans | $38.95 | ↓ -10% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $68.40 | ↑ +58% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $71.25 | ↑ +65% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $75.05 | ↑ +74% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $76.00 | ↑ +76% |
| Sutter Health | Commercial|All Plans | $76.00 | ↑ +76% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Connection EPO | $76.00 | ↑ +76% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Other Plans | $89.59 | ↑ +108% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| United | Medicaid|< 21 | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| United | Medicaid|> 21 | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Molina | Medicaid|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Hill Physicians | Commercial|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Hill Physicians | Medicaid|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Hill Physicians | Medicare|All Plans | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|HMO | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|PPO | $95.00 | ↑ +120% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|Imperial | $97.85 | ↑ +127% |
| BrightHealth | Commercial|All Plans | $104.50 | ↑ +142% |
| Prison Healthcare | Medicaid|All Plans | $142.50 | ↑ +230% |
| Cigna | Commercial|LocalPlus | $311.64 | ↑ +622% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $415.55 | ↑ +863% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Tissue culture skin/biopsy at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Methodist Hospital of Sacramento | Sacramento | $57.03 | $33.25 – $311.64 |
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $86.73 | $53.46 – $373.38 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $221.82 | $28.15 – $230.86 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $89.58 | $48.75 – $362.59 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $82.04 | $26.33 – $426.25 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $73.46 | $87.50 – $404.39 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $72.67 | $87.50 – $404.39 |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center | Stockton | $113.06 | $19.80 – $158.40 |