Middle cerebral artery echo 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

$163.07

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.

$381.00

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.

$82.17 with Partnership Health Plan vs $511.83 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
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $82.17 ↓ -50%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $82.17 ↓ -50%
CenCal Medicaid|< 21 $82.47 ↓ -49%
CenCal Medicaid|> 21 $82.47 ↓ -49%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $124.32 ↓ -24%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $124.32 ↓ -24%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $135.12 ↓ -17%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $135.12 ↓ -17%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $135.12 ↓ -17%
United Medicare|All Plans $135.12 ↓ -17%
Alignment Medicare|All Plans $135.12 ↓ -17%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $135.12 ↓ -17%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $135.12 ↓ -17%
MHS Hospice Commercial|All Plans $136.73 ↓ -16%
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans $173.50 ↑ +6%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $218.61 ↑ +34%
United Commercial|HMO $245.18 ↑ +50%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $245.18 ↑ +50%
United Commercial|Options PPO $245.18 ↑ +50%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $245.18 ↑ +50%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $291.48 ↑ +79%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $319.24 ↑ +96%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $336.59 ↑ +106%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $340.06 ↑ +109%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $347.00 ↑ +113%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $347.00 ↑ +113%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $347.00 ↑ +113%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $347.00 ↑ +113%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $511.83 ↑ +214%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $511.83 ↑ +214%

Visitor-reported prices

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Middle cerebral artery echo at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $157.68 $97.20 – $527.07
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $633.50 $21.27 – $782.79
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $225.40 $82.17 – $601.70
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $133.56 $82.17 – $570.84
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $132.12 $82.17 – $570.84
Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka Eureka $936.36 $134.46 – $535.56
Redwood Memorial Hospital Fortuna $557.43 $536.81 – $536.81
Providence Mission Hospital - Mission Viejo Mission Viejo $305.76 $114.29 – $248.76

All California hospitals for this procedure →