Carotid Artery Ultrasound (Duplex) at French Hospital
1911 Johnson Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1881760452
$2,157.57
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$5,504.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$179.75 with BCBS - Anthem vs $5,865.00 with United — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | Medicaid|All Plans | $179.75 | ↓ -92% |
| Molina | Medicaid|> 21 | $179.75 | ↓ -92% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $179.75 | ↓ -92% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $179.75 | ↓ -92% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $179.75 | ↓ -92% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $221.09 | ↓ -90% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $221.09 | ↓ -90% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $272.26 | ↓ -87% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $284.96 | ↓ -87% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $284.96 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $307.13 | ↓ -86% |
| MHS HSPCC | Commercial|All Plans | $498.42 | ↓ -77% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $923.00 | ↓ -57% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $1,033.76 | ↓ -52% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $1,144.52 | ↓ -47% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $1,271.67 | ↓ -41% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,271.67 | ↓ -41% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $1,476.80 | ↓ -32% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1,569.10 | ↓ -27% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $1,569.10 | ↓ -27% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $1,735.24 | ↓ -20% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $1,772.16 | ↓ -18% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,809.08 | ↓ -16% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $4,500.00 | ↑ +109% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5,865.00 | ↑ +172% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Carotid Artery Ultrasound (Duplex) at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $1,241.30 | $221.09 – $2,210.52 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $1,143.52 | $48.34 – $1,830.39 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $1,428.51 | $321.54 – $1,094.08 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $1,436.80 | $179.75 – $2,597.98 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $6,036.63 | $120.30 – $455.70 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $1,031.01 | $179.75 – $2,223.20 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $1,019.90 | $179.75 – $2,195.41 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $1,879.86 | $338.78 – $1,382.65 |