Smear gram stain 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.
$3.46 with Partnership Health Plan vs $134.47 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|All Plans | $3.46 | ↓ -92% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Other Plans | $4.03 | ↓ -90% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Hill Physicians | Medicare|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Connected Care | Commercial|Intel | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| Hill Physicians | Commercial|All Plans | $4.27 | ↓ -90% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|Imperial | $4.40 | ↓ -89% |
| United | Medicaid|< 21 | $4.96 | ↓ -88% |
| United | Medicaid|> 21 | $4.96 | ↓ -88% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5.12 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $5.12 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $5.12 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $5.12 | ↓ -87% |
| Hill Physicians | Medicaid|All Plans | $5.46 | ↓ -87% |
| Molina | Medicaid|All Plans | $6.50 | ↓ -84% |
| Cigna | Commercial|LocalPlus | $9.47 | ↓ -77% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $10.01 | ↓ -76% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|All Plans | $11.41 | ↓ -72% |
| California Health & Wellness | Medicaid|All Plans | $11.41 | ↓ -72% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $12.63 | ↓ -69% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $29.50 | ↓ -28% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $29.50 | ↓ -28% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $29.50 | ↓ -28% |
| 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% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Connection EPO | $80.90 | ↑ +98% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|HMO | $100.82 | ↑ +147% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|All Other Plans | $101.12 | ↑ +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% |
| 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 | $134.47 | ↑ +229% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Smear gram stain at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy General Hospital | Sacramento | $30.96 | $3.46 – $113.60 |
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $90.67 | $4.27 – $13.33 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $7.25 | $0.85 – $5.71 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $301.92 | $4.18 – $34.84 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $104.01 | $4.27 – $11.76 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $117.22 | $4.27 – $10.47 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $95.26 | $3.24 – $12.95 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $94.98 | $1.51 – $12.29 |