Red blood cells each unit 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

$457.65

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.

$1,017.00

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.

$129.66 with COSC Psych vs $20,963.00 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 →

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
COSC Psych Medicaid|All Plans $129.66 ↓ -72%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|All Plans $129.66 ↓ -72%
Central California Alliance for Health Medicaid|All Plans $129.66 ↓ -72%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $196.16 ↓ -57%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $196.16 ↓ -57%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $198.28 ↓ -57%
United Medicare|All Plans $198.28 ↓ -57%
Blue Shield CA Medicare|All Plans $198.28 ↓ -57%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $198.28 ↓ -57%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|DHMF $226.04 ↓ -51%
Sutter Health Commercial|All Plans $620.62 ↑ +36%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $661.05 ↑ +44%
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans $711.90 ↑ +56%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $813.60 ↑ +78%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|All Other Plans $833.94 ↑ +82%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $864.45 ↑ +89%
Multiplan Commercial|All Plans $864.45 ↑ +89%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $894.96 ↑ +96%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $1,017.00 ↑ +122%
United Commercial|HMO $16,583.00 ↑ +3524%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $17,458.00 ↑ +3715%
United Commercial|Options PPO $20,963.00 ↑ +4481%

Visitor-reported prices

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Red blood cells each unit at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $146.73 $90.45 – $340.16
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $873.71 $129.66 – $1,884.00
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $864.29 $129.66 – $1,860.45
St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton Stockton $511.27 $129.66 – $1,425.98
Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta Mt Shasta $690.87 $48.72 – $198.94
Mercy Medical Center Merced Merced $217.33 $129.66 – $422.00
Northridge Hospital Medical Center Northridge $126.67 $113.50 – $4,018.00
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Grass Valley $465.43 $129.66 – $597.80

All California hospitals for this procedure →