Surgical pathology level 6 gross & microscopic examination at Arroyo Grande Hospital
1400 E Church St, Santa Maria, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1760510937
$132.85
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$310.39
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$155.20 with Western Growers vs $1,037.95 with United — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Growers | Commercial|All Plans | $155.20 | ↑ +17% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|All Plans | $195.55 | ↑ +47% |
| First Health | Commercial|All Plans | $260.73 | ↑ +96% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|> 21 | $266.04 | ↑ +100% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|< 21 | $266.04 | ↑ +100% |
| Partnership Health Plan | Medicaid|< 21 | $266.04 | ↑ +100% |
| CenCal | Medicaid|> 21 | $266.04 | ↑ +100% |
| Healthsmart | Commercial|All Plans | $285.56 | ↑ +115% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|Non-MCS | $301.08 | ↑ +127% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $304.19 | ↑ +129% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Commercial|MCS | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|PPO | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Aetna | Commercial|HMO | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| United | Commercial|Options PPO | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| United | Commercial|Non-Options PPO | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| BCBS - Anthem | Medicare|All Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Alignment | Medicare|All Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Scan Health Plan | Medicare|All Plans | $310.39 | ↑ +134% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|< 21 | $381.78 | ↑ +187% |
| Health Net | Medicaid|> 21 | $381.78 | ↑ +187% |
| Cigna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $765.05 | ↑ +476% |
| Cigna | Commercial|PPO | $765.05 | ↑ +476% |
| MHS Hospice | Commercial|All Plans | $766.38 | ↑ +477% |
| United | Commercial|HMO | $787.38 | ↑ +493% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $1,037.95 | ↑ +681% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Surgical pathology level 6 gross & microscopic examination at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's Camarillo Hospital | Camarillo | $391.58 | $241.38 – $1,788.00 |
| Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma | $1,276.02 | $223.35 – $1,256.40 |
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $606.73 | $79.03 – $299.38 |
| French Hospital | San Luis Obispo | $121.68 | $83.81 – $899.38 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $306.08 | $204.27 – $853.25 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $302.78 | $204.27 – $853.25 |
| Queen of The Valley Medical Center | Napa | $1,407.60 | $282.25 – $1,256.40 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Eureka | Eureka | $797.64 | $320.08 – $1,256.40 |