Chromatography 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

$10.85

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.

$25.34

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.

$9.00 with Western Growers vs $46.54 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 →

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
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans $9.00 ↓ -17%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Exchange $11.34 ↑ +5%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $11.34 ↑ +5%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $15.12 ↑ +39%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|FFS $15.84 ↑ +46%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $16.56 ↑ +53%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $17.46 ↑ +61%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $17.64 ↑ +63%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $18.00 ↑ +66%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $18.00 ↑ +66%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $18.00 ↑ +66%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
United Medicare|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
United Commercial|Options PPO $18.00 ↑ +66%
CenCal Medicaid|> 21 $18.00 ↑ +66%
MHS Hospice Commercial|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $18.00 ↑ +66%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $18.00 ↑ +66%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $18.00 ↑ +66%
Alignment Medicare|All Plans $18.00 ↑ +66%
CenCal Medicaid|< 21 $18.00 ↑ +66%
United Commercial|HMO $21.67 ↑ +100%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $22.14 ↑ +104%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $22.14 ↑ +104%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $46.54 ↑ +329%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $46.54 ↑ +329%

Visitor-reported prices

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Chromatography at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $11.10 $4.86 – $47.92
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $13.77 $3.61 – $25.41
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $4.75 $17.70 – $146.79
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $111.89 $9.75 – $18.00
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $9.94 $4.86 – $54.71
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $9.41 $7.98 – $51.90
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $9.30 $7.98 – $51.90
Queen of The Valley Medical Center Napa $25.50 $18.06 – $185.51

All California hospitals for this procedure →