Assay of fluoride at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$46.23
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.
$108.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$18.54 with Alignment vs $108.00 with Aetna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $18.54 | ↓ -60% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $21.27 | ↓ -54% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $21.27 | ↓ -54% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $22.25 | ↓ -52% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $22.25 | ↓ -52% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $22.25 | ↓ -52% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $22.25 | ↓ -52% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $23.64 | ↓ -49% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $23.64 | ↓ -49% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $35.77 | ↓ -23% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $35.77 | ↓ -23% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $47.77 | ↑ +3% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $47.77 | ↑ +3% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $54.00 | ↑ +17% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $68.04 | ↑ +47% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $68.04 | ↑ +47% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $90.72 | ↑ +96% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|FFS | $95.04 | ↑ +106% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $99.36 | ↑ +115% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $104.76 | ↑ +127% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $105.84 | ↑ +129% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $108.00 | ↑ +134% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $108.00 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $108.00 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $108.00 | ↑ +134% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Assay of fluoride at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $42.34 | $18.54 – $105.84 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $39.70 | $18.54 – $85.60 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $39.27 | $18.54 – $84.53 |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center | Stockton | $61.10 | $10.70 – $85.60 |
| St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton | Stockton | $31.46 | $15.76 – $87.74 |
| Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta | Mt Shasta | $83.25 | $16.48 – $104.86 |
| Mercy Medical Center Merced | Merced | $55.11 | $18.54 – $100.58 |
| Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital | Grass Valley | $58.86 | $18.54 – $105.84 |