Culture typing added method at French Hospital
1911 Johnson Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1881760452
$58.80
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.
$150.00
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.
$7.74 with Kaiser vs $147.00 with MultiPlan — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $7.74 | ↓ -87% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicaid|All Plans | $8.18 | ↓ -86% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $8.18 | ↓ -86% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $8.18 | ↓ -86% |
| Molina | Medicaid|> 21 | $8.18 | ↓ -86% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $8.18 | ↓ -86% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $8.18 | ↓ -86% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $8.18 | ↓ -86% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $9.29 | ↓ -84% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $9.29 | ↓ -84% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $9.29 | ↓ -84% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $10.06 | ↓ -83% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $10.06 | ↓ -83% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $23.44 | ↓ -60% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $23.44 | ↓ -60% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Gatekeeper | $35.44 | ↓ -40% |
| MHS HSPCC | Commercial|All Plans | $40.50 | ↓ -31% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Non-Gatekeeper | $62.59 | ↑ +6% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $72.00 | ↑ +22% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $75.00 | ↑ +28% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $75.68 | ↑ +29% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $77.31 | ↑ +31% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $84.00 | ↑ +43% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $93.00 | ↑ +58% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|FFS | $102.00 | ↑ +73% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $127.50 | ↑ +117% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $127.50 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $147.00 | ↑ +150% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Culture typing added method at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $64.20 | $7.74 – $147.00 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $19.98 | $7.74 – $29.40 |
| Northridge Hospital Medical Center | Northridge | $55.80 | $7.74 – $200.00 |
| Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital | Grass Valley | $3.11 | $3.82 – $5.70 |
| Mercy Hospital of Folsom | Folsom | $2.22 | $0.63 – $17.14 |
| St. Elizabeth Community Hospital | Red Bluff | $8.18 | $5.70 – $14.00 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | not published | $7.59 – $42.70 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | not published | $7.74 – $53.96 |