Smear fluorescent and/or acid fast stain at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$95.26
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.
$222.56
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.
$5.39 with Alignment vs $37.00 with Aetna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $5.39 | ↓ -94% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $6.18 | ↓ -94% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $6.18 | ↓ -94% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $6.47 | ↓ -93% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $6.47 | ↓ -93% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $6.47 | ↓ -93% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $6.47 | ↓ -93% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $6.87 | ↓ -93% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $6.87 | ↓ -93% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $10.39 | ↓ -89% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $10.39 | ↓ -89% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $13.87 | ↓ -85% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $13.87 | ↓ -85% |
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $18.50 | ↓ -81% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|Exchange | $23.31 | ↓ -76% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $23.31 | ↓ -76% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $31.08 | ↓ -67% |
| Blue Shield CA | Commercial|FFS | $32.56 | ↓ -66% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $34.04 | ↓ -64% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $35.89 | ↓ -62% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $36.26 | ↓ -62% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $37.00 | ↓ -61% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $37.00 | ↓ -61% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $37.00 | ↓ -61% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $37.00 | ↓ -61% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Smear fluorescent and/or acid fast stain at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $166.01 | $2.16 – $14.29 |
| Banner Lassen Medical Center | Susanville | $31.81 | $1.08 – $7.90 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $313.65 | $5.28 – $43.86 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $103.90 | $5.39 – $13.22 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $87.25 | $5.39 – $50.96 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $43.93 | $3.50 – $15.47 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $43.45 | $3.50 – $15.47 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $286.11 | $5.39 – $55.42 |