CT thoracic spine w/contrast at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$3,130.82
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.
$7,315.00
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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$222.30 with MHS Hospice vs $5,445.86 with MultiPlan — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $222.30 | ↓ -93% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $226.19 | ↓ -93% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $226.19 | ↓ -93% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $226.19 | ↓ -93% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $226.19 | ↓ -93% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $226.19 | ↓ -93% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $226.19 | ↓ -93% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $226.19 | ↓ -93% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $235.73 | ↓ -92% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $235.73 | ↓ -92% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $241.42 | ↓ -92% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $241.42 | ↓ -92% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $356.64 | ↓ -89% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $356.64 | ↓ -89% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $401.74 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $401.74 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $401.74 | ↓ -87% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $401.74 | ↓ -87% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $1,539.07 | ↓ -51% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $1,539.07 | ↓ -51% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,539.07 | ↓ -51% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $1,642.00 | ↓ -48% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,756.00 | ↓ -44% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $1,756.00 | ↓ -44% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $2,200.00 | ↓ -30% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $2,778.50 | ↓ -11% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $3,500.91 | ↑ +12% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $4,667.88 | ↑ +49% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $5,112.44 | ↑ +63% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $5,445.86 | ↑ +74% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
CT thoracic spine w/contrast at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $1,527.31 | $226.19 – $2,719.86 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $1,495.90 | $35.60 – $2,550.13 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $5,563.08 | $236.37 – $1,637.00 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $5,665.67 | $235.73 – $1,786.54 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $2,509.20 | $226.19 – $1,768.00 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $3,309.32 | $226.19 – $7,136.00 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $3,273.64 | $226.19 – $7,046.80 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $5,181.60 | $249.04 – $2,068.77 |