Middle cerebral artery echo at French Hospital
1911 Johnson Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1881760452
$225.40
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.
$575.00
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.
$82.17 with BCBS - Anthem vs $601.70 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 →
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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 | $82.17 | ↓ -64% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $82.17 | ↓ -64% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $82.17 | ↓ -64% |
| Molina | Medicaid|< 21 | $82.17 | ↓ -64% |
| Molina | Medicaid|> 21 | $82.17 | ↓ -64% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $82.47 | ↓ -63% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $82.47 | ↓ -63% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $101.07 | ↓ -55% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $101.07 | ↓ -55% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $130.94 | ↓ -42% |
| Humana | Commercial|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| Health Net | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| Blue Shield CA | Medicare|All Plans | $135.12 | ↓ -40% |
| MHS HSPCC | Commercial|All Plans | $146.88 | ↓ -35% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $245.18 | ↑ +9% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $245.18 | ↑ +9% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $245.18 | ↑ +9% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $287.50 | ↑ +28% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $322.00 | ↑ +43% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Gatekeeper | $329.41 | ↑ +46% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $337.28 | ↑ +50% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $462.40 | ↑ +105% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $462.40 | ↑ +105% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $533.12 | ↑ +137% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $540.50 | ↑ +140% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $552.00 | ↑ +145% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Non-Gatekeeper | $575.00 | ↑ +155% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $601.70 | ↑ +167% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $601.70 | ↑ +167% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Middle cerebral artery echo at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $157.68 | $97.20 – $527.07 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $633.50 | $21.27 – $782.79 |
| Arroyo Grande Hospital | Santa Maria | $163.07 | $82.17 – $511.83 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $133.56 | $82.17 – $570.84 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $132.12 | $82.17 – $570.84 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | $936.36 | $134.46 – $535.56 |
| Redwood Memorial Hospital | Fortuna | $557.43 | $536.81 – $536.81 |
| Providence Mission Hospital - Mission Viejo | Mission Viejo | $305.76 | $114.29 – $248.76 |