Echo tee guidance at French Hospital
1911 Johnson Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1881760452
$642.10
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$1,638.00
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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$193.26 with BCBS - Anthem vs $5,865.00 with United — 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 →
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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 ?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 | $193.26 | ↓ -70% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $193.26 | ↓ -70% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $193.26 | ↓ -70% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $193.26 | ↓ -70% |
| Molina | Medicaid|> 21 | $193.26 | ↓ -70% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $193.26 | ↓ -70% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $193.26 | ↓ -70% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $237.71 | ↓ -63% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $237.71 | ↓ -63% |
| MHS HSPCC | Commercial|All Plans | $442.26 | ↓ -31% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $819.00 | ↑ +28% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $917.28 | ↑ +43% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $1,015.56 | ↑ +58% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $1,310.40 | ↑ +104% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $1,392.30 | ↑ +117% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1,392.30 | ↑ +117% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $1,539.72 | ↑ +140% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $1,572.48 | ↑ +145% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,605.24 | ↑ +150% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $4,500.00 | ↑ +601% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5,865.00 | ↑ +813% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Echo tee guidance at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $701.07 | $193.26 – $1,605.24 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $320.18 | $193.26 – $690.40 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $316.73 | $193.26 – $863.00 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $1,942.08 | $1,884.10 – $1,919.38 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | $1,878.84 | $2,176.58 – $2,176.58 |
| St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton | Stockton | $1,968.33 | $193.26 – $5,489.90 |
| Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital | Santa Rosa | $1,351.50 | $1,632.93 – $2,048.35 |
| Mercy Medical Center Merced | Merced | $639.63 | $193.26 – $1,242.00 |