Consultation pathology during surgery frozen section first tissue block at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$13.10
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.
$30.59
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.
$15.30 with Western Growers vs $217.73 with United — 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 | $15.30 | ↑ +17% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $19.28 | ↑ +47% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $25.70 | ↑ +96% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $28.15 | ↑ +115% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $29.68 | ↑ +127% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $29.98 | ↑ +129% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $30.59 | ↑ +134% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $37.63 | ↑ +187% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $37.63 | ↑ +187% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $106.99 | ↑ +717% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $106.99 | ↑ +717% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $175.06 | ↑ +1236% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $178.99 | ↑ +1266% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $217.73 | ↑ +1562% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Consultation pathology during surgery frozen section first tissue block at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $143.23 | $88.29 – $394.70 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $548.25 | $129.97 – $287.00 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $93.24 | $11.12 – $42.96 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $12.00 | $8.26 – $125.77 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $113.53 | $29.21 – $119.32 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $112.31 | $29.21 – $119.32 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $364.14 | $164.25 – $287.00 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | $324.87 | $186.27 – $287.00 |