Smear special stain inclusion bodies/parasites 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

$32.96

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.

$77.00

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.

$4.34 with Western Growers vs $15.42 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
Western Growers Commercial|All Plans $4.34 ↓ -87%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $5.47 ↓ -83%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Exchange $5.47 ↓ -83%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
Aetna Medicare|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
United Medicare|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
Kaiser Medicare|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
Alignment Medicare|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
MHS Hospice Commercial|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
Scan Health Plan Medicare|All Plans $5.99 ↓ -82%
CenCal Medicaid|> 21 $6.87 ↓ -79%
CenCal Medicaid|< 21 $6.87 ↓ -79%
United Commercial|Options PPO $7.19 ↓ -78%
United Commercial|Non-Options PPO $7.19 ↓ -78%
United Commercial|All Other Plans $7.19 ↓ -78%
United Commercial|HMO $7.19 ↓ -78%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $7.30 ↓ -78%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|FFS $7.64 ↓ -77%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|> 21 $7.65 ↓ -77%
Partnership Health Plan Medicaid|< 21 $7.65 ↓ -77%
Healthsmart Commercial|All Plans $7.99 ↓ -76%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $8.42 ↓ -74%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $8.51 ↓ -74%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $8.68 ↓ -74%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $8.68 ↓ -74%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $8.68 ↓ -74%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $8.68 ↓ -74%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $10.68 ↓ -68%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $10.68 ↓ -68%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $15.42 ↓ -53%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $15.42 ↓ -53%

Visitor-reported prices

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Smear special stain inclusion bodies/parasites at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $67.02 $2.35 – $15.88
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $7.81 $1.20 – $13.58
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $57.63 $5.87 – $48.91
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $337.00 $3.88 – $14.69
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $30.19 $2.35 – $18.13
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $76.43 $5.99 – $17.20
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $75.61 $5.99 – $17.20
Queen of The Valley Medical Center Napa $57.63 $5.99 – $61.81

All California hospitals for this procedure →