Assay of corticosterone at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$11.11
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$25.94
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$12.97 with Western Growers vs $58.03 with Cigna — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | $12.97 | ↑ +17% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $16.35 | ↑ +47% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $16.35 | ↑ +47% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $21.79 | ↑ +96% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $22.52 | ↑ +103% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|FFS | $22.83 | ↑ +105% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $23.87 | ↑ +115% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $25.17 | ↑ +127% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $25.43 | ↑ +129% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $25.83 | ↑ +132% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $25.83 | ↑ +132% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $25.94 | ↑ +133% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $27.02 | ↑ +143% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $31.91 | ↑ +187% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $31.91 | ↑ +187% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $58.03 | ↑ +422% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $58.03 | ↑ +422% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Assay of corticosterone at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $20.66 | $4.50 – $33.03 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $10.17 | $7.01 – $68.22 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | not published | $22.07 – $177.79 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | not published | $22.52 – $224.68 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | not published | $22.52 – $254.79 |
| Healdsburg Hospital | Healdsburg | not published | $22.52 – $101.64 |
| Redwood Memorial Hospital | Fortuna | not published | $255.38 – $255.38 |
| Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital | Santa Rosa | not published | $22.07 – $191.15 |