Consultation/report referred slides prepared elsewhere at French Hospital
1911 Johnson Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1881760452
$234.77
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.
$598.90
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.
$32.62 with MHS HSPCC vs $254.72 with Cigna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MHS HSPCC | Commercial|All Plans | $32.62 | ↓ -86% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $39.06 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $40.61 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $40.61 | ↓ -83% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $40.61 | ↓ -83% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $49.87 | ↓ -79% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $60.40 | ↓ -74% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $67.65 | ↓ -71% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $74.90 | ↓ -68% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $87.47 | ↓ -63% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $87.47 | ↓ -63% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $87.47 | ↓ -63% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $87.47 | ↓ -63% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $87.47 | ↓ -63% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $87.47 | ↓ -63% |
| Molina | Medicaid|> 21 | $87.47 | ↓ -63% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $102.68 | ↓ -56% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $102.68 | ↓ -56% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $107.59 | ↓ -54% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $107.59 | ↓ -54% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $113.56 | ↓ -52% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $115.97 | ↓ -51% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $118.39 | ↓ -50% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Non-Gatekeeper | $120.80 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Gatekeeper | $120.80 | ↓ -49% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $254.72 | ↑ +8% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $254.72 | ↑ +8% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Consultation/report referred slides prepared elsewhere at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $63.08 | $38.88 – $223.12 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $240.72 | $50.33 – $319.03 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $256.33 | $40.61 – $216.67 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $83.92 | $32.60 – $123.48 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $55.65 | $40.61 – $241.65 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $55.05 | $40.61 – $241.65 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $386.07 | $53.03 – $403.17 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | $516.63 | $48.04 – $457.20 |