CT bone density axial 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

$338.69

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.

$864.00

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.

$64.53 with MHS HSPCC vs $1,768.00 with Cigna — 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
MHS HSPCC Commercial|All Plans $64.53 ↓ -81%
MHS Hospice Commercial|All Plans $93.24 ↓ -72%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
Humana Commercial|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
United Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
Alignment Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Plans $111.88 ↓ -67%
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans $119.50 ↓ -65%
Health Net Commercial|FFS $133.84 ↓ -60%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $148.18 ↓ -56%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $182.03 ↓ -46%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $182.03 ↓ -46%
United Commercial|HMO $182.03 ↓ -46%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $203.15 ↓ -40%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $203.15 ↓ -40%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $224.66 ↓ -34%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $229.44 ↓ -32%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $234.22 ↓ -31%
Aetna Commercial|Non-Gatekeeper $239.00 ↓ -29%
Aetna Commercial|Gatekeeper $239.00 ↓ -29%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $1,768.00 ↑ +422%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,768.00 ↑ +422%

Visitor-reported prices

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CT bone density axial at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $424.58 $111.88 – $1,756.00
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $2,709.96 $226.88 – $859.46
St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton Stockton $353.98 $106.19 – $987.28
California Hospital Medical Center Los Angeles $141.62 $73.00 – $1,570.00
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma not published $117.28 – $671.90
Queen of The Valley Medical Center Napa not published $123.56 – $849.12
Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka Eureka not published $111.93 – $962.91
Healdsburg Hospital Healdsburg not published $117.25 – $384.12

All California hospitals for this procedure →