Bx skin incisnl ea sep/add l les at Arroyo Grande Hospital

1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937

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

not published by hospital

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.

Full explanation →

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

not published by hospital

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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$51.82 with CenCal vs $7,160.00 with BCBS - Anthem — 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 →

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
CenCal Medicaid|< 21 $51.82
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $51.82
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $51.82
CenCal Medicaid|> 21 $51.82
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $78.40
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $78.40
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $5,343.00
Aetna Commercial|HMO $5,710.00
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $5,710.00
Aetna Commercial|PPO $5,710.00
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $7,160.00
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
First Health Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
United Commercial|All Other Plans not published by hospital
United Commercial|HMO not published by hospital
United Commercial|Options PPO not published by hospital
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO not published by hospital
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
Report what you paid sign in to post

Comments

Add a comment sign in to post

Bx skin incisnl ea sep/add l les at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $552.37 $78.40 – $1,331.00
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $227.97 $1,687.00 – $10,997.00
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $61.28 $22.51 – $85.26
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $76.71 $51.82 – $206.91
Queen of The Valley Medical Center Napa $240.21 $2,747.00 – $8,621.00
Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka Eureka $769.08 $2,699.00 – $21,319.00
Healdsburg Hospital Healdsburg $755.82 $3,982.87 – $3,982.87
Redwood Memorial Hospital Fortuna $543.66 $8,222.00 – $20,799.00

All California hospitals for this procedure →