Fern test at Methodist Hospital of Sacramento
7500 Hospital Dr., Sacramento, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1467560599
$40.90
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.
$142.00
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.
$9.18 with BCBS - Anthem vs $142.00 with BCBS - Anthem — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Other Plans | $9.18 | ↓ -78% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| Connected Care | Commercial|Intel | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| Hill Physicians | Commercial|All Plans | $9.74 | ↓ -76% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|Imperial | $10.03 | ↓ -75% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $11.69 | ↓ -71% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $11.69 | ↓ -71% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $11.69 | ↓ -71% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $11.69 | ↓ -71% |
| Cigna | Commercial|LocalPlus | $21.57 | ↓ -47% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $28.76 | ↓ -30% |
| Western Health Advantage | Commercial|All Plans | $49.70 | ↑ +22% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|ACO Trio | $52.54 | ↑ +28% |
| Kaiser | Medicaid|All Plans | $58.22 | ↑ +42% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|ACO Trio CalPers | $66.74 | ↑ +63% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $69.58 | ↑ +70% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|HMO | $100.82 | ↑ +147% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|CalPers | $103.66 | ↑ +153% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|BRMS | $106.50 | ↑ +160% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $106.50 | ↑ +160% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $112.18 | ↑ +174% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Connection EPO | $113.60 | ↑ +178% |
| Sutter Health | Commercial|All Plans | $113.60 | ↑ +178% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $115.02 | ↑ +181% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $117.86 | ↑ +188% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|All Other Plans | $120.70 | ↑ +195% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $142.00 | ↑ +247% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $142.00 | ↑ +247% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Fern test at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy General Hospital | Sacramento | $30.96 | $9.18 – $113.60 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $41.32 | $1.95 – $64.02 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $47.86 | $9.74 – $86.40 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $47.35 | $9.74 – $85.32 |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center | Stockton | $65.67 | $9.74 – $92.00 |
| St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton | Stockton | $76.74 | $8.28 – $214.02 |
| Mercy Medical Center Merced | Merced | $67.98 | $9.74 – $124.08 |
| Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital | Grass Valley | $70.85 | $9.74 – $124.46 |