Aspirate pleura without imaging 32554 at French Hospital

1911 Johnson Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1881760452

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

not published by hospital

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

not published by hospital

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$85.02 with BCBS - Anthem vs $6,120.00 with Blue Shield CA — 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 →

Payer
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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
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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 Medicaid|All Plans $85.02
Molina Medicaid|< 21 $85.02
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $85.02
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $85.02
Molina Medicaid|> 21 $85.02
CenCal Medicaid|> 21 $93.43
CenCal Medicaid|< 21 $93.43
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $104.57
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $104.57
MHS Hospice Commercial|All Plans $736.62
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Humana Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Humana Commercial|All Plans $785.56
United Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Alignment Medicare|All Plans $785.56
Aetna Commercial|Gatekeeper $4,063.00
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Exchange $4,152.00
Aetna Commercial|Non-Gatekeeper $4,363.00
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $5,243.00
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $5,432.00
Blue Shield CA Commercial|FFS $6,120.00
MHS HSPCC Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
First Health Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO not published by hospital
Health Net Commercial|FFS not published by hospital
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Aspirate pleura without imaging 32554 at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $580.35 $104.57 – $1,452.04
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $976.14 $845.36 – $2,695.00
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $2,108.56 $63.13 – $239.12
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $619.20 $85.02 – $1,335.20
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $612.53 $85.02 – $1,318.51
Queen of The Valley Medical Center Napa $4,047.87 $890.68 – $6,200.00
Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka Eureka $5,978.73 $806.82 – $8,018.00
Healdsburg Hospital Healdsburg $2,204.22 $845.19 – $3,982.87

All California hospitals for this procedure →