Puncture spinal lumbar diagnostic at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$1,010.08
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.
$2,360.00
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.
$93.99 with Partnership Health Plan vs $7,160.00 with BCBS - Anthem — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $93.99 | ↓ -91% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $93.99 | ↓ -91% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $115.61 | ↓ -89% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $115.61 | ↓ -89% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $148.16 | ↓ -85% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $148.16 | ↓ -85% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $762.54 | ↓ -25% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $879.92 | ↓ -13% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $879.92 | ↓ -13% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $879.92 | ↓ -13% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $879.92 | ↓ -13% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $879.92 | ↓ -13% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $879.92 | ↓ -13% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $879.92 | ↓ -13% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $1,012.00 | ↑ +0% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $1,159.20 | ↑ +15% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $1,545.60 | ↑ +53% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $1,619.20 | ↑ +60% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,637.60 | ↑ +62% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $1,692.80 | ↑ +68% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $1,711.20 | ↑ +69% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,803.20 | ↑ +79% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $1,821.60 | ↑ +80% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $4,486.00 | ↑ +344% |
| Health Net | Commercial|Care Product | $4,782.00 | ↑ +373% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $5,343.00 | ↑ +429% |
| Health Net | Commercial|FFS | $5,416.00 | ↑ +436% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $5,710.00 | ↑ +465% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $5,710.00 | ↑ +465% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $5,710.00 | ↑ +465% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|FFS | $6,515.00 | ↑ +545% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $7,160.00 | ↑ +609% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Puncture spinal lumbar diagnostic at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $743.29 | $115.61 – $1,617.30 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $393.59 | $116.85 – $276.45 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $1,530.51 | $951.25 – $2,695.00 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $1,845.49 | $56.92 – $215.60 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $1,296.74 | $93.99 – $1,803.20 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $782.44 | $93.99 – $1,687.20 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $774.01 | $93.99 – $1,666.11 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $1,567.74 | $1,002.25 – $6,200.00 |