Collection of venous blood by venipuncture at Dominican Hospital

1555 Soquel Dr, Santa Cruz, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1427181007

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$24.75

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.

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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$55.00

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.

$3.60 with United vs $19,875.00 with Blue Shield CA — 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
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $3.60 ↓ -85%
United Commercial|HMO $3.60 ↓ -85%
United Commercial|Options PPO $3.60 ↓ -85%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $3.60 ↓ -85%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Plans $9.09 ↓ -63%
United Medicare|All Plans $9.09 ↓ -63%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $9.09 ↓ -63%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $9.09 ↓ -63%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|DHMF $10.36 ↓ -58%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $11.05 ↓ -55%
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans $11.90 ↓ -52%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $13.60 ↓ -45%
Multiplan Commercial|All Plans $14.45 ↓ -42%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $14.45 ↓ -42%
Cigna Commercial|LocalPlus $26.86 ↑ +9%
Sutter Health Commercial|All Plans $28.45 ↑ +15%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $28.58 ↑ +15%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Exchange $15,556.00 ↑ +62753%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|ACO Trio $16,259.00 ↑ +65593%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|All Other Plans $19,875.00 ↑ +80203%

Visitor-reported prices

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Collection of venous blood by venipuncture at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $42.05 $3.24 – $17.14
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $23.53 $1.82 – $32.98
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $44.37 $6.00 – $16.71
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $39.38 $3.00 – $9.00
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $75.93 $4.88 – $9.00
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $36.07 $2.43 – $9.09
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $39.70 $3.60 – $44.00
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $40.01 $3.60 – $39.50

All California hospitals for this procedure →