Analysis nerve at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$34.81
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.
$81.31
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.
$40.66 with Western Growers vs $309.39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $40.66 | ↑ +17% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $51.23 | ↑ +47% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $59.71 | ↑ +72% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $59.71 | ↑ +72% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $59.71 | ↑ +72% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $59.71 | ↑ +72% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $60.35 | ↑ +73% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $67.89 | ↑ +95% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $67.89 | ↑ +95% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $67.89 | ↑ +95% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $67.89 | ↑ +95% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $67.89 | ↑ +95% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $67.89 | ↑ +95% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $67.89 | ↑ +95% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $68.31 | ↑ +96% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $74.81 | ↑ +115% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $78.88 | ↑ +127% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $79.69 | ↑ +129% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $81.31 | ↑ +134% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $100.02 | ↑ +187% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $100.02 | ↑ +187% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $309.39 | ↑ +789% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $309.39 | ↑ +789% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Analysis nerve at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $31.88 | $21.96 – $363.71 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | not published | $70.23 – $291.99 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | not published | $73.99 – $369.00 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | not published | $67.02 – $418.45 |
| Healdsburg Hospital | Healdsburg | not published | $70.21 – $464.04 |
| Redwood Memorial Hospital | Fortuna | not published | $419.42 – $419.42 |
| Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital | Santa Rosa | not published | $72.51 – $313.93 |
| Providence Mission Hospital - Mission Viejo | Mission Viejo | not published | $56.97 – $123.99 |