Contrast x-ray of brain at Providence Saint John's Health Center
2121 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA · Providence · · NPI 1124026273
$773.50
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.
$2,210.00
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.
$222.16 with Aetna vs $3,834.71 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 →
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | All Commercial Plans | $222.16 | ↓ -71% |
| Blue Shield | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $232.85 | ↓ -70% |
| Blue Cross | All Commercial Plans | $249.46 | ↓ -68% |
| Blue Shield | Tandem Ppo/Blue High Performance Ppo/Epo | $283.13 | ↓ -63% |
| Blue Shield | Ppo/Epo | $314.88 | ↓ -59% |
| Blue Shield | Hmo | $314.88 | ↓ -59% |
| Aetna | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $1,008.25 | ↑ +30% |
| Humana | Choicecare Medicare Managed Care Plan | $1,028.42 | ↑ +33% |
| Blue Cross | Anthem Vivity City Of La Other Commercial Plan | $1,056.32 | ↑ +37% |
| Unitedhealthcare | Select/Navigate Hmo | $1,089.31 | ↑ +41% |
| Unitedhealthcare | All Commercial Plans | $1,089.31 | ↑ +41% |
| Central Health Plan | Medicare Managed Care Plan | $1,109.08 | ↑ +43% |
| Blue Cross | Anthem Vivity Non City Of La Other Commercial Plan | $1,189.72 | ↑ +54% |
| Blue Shield | Epn/Ifp Benefit Exchange | $1,218.87 | ↑ +58% |
| La Care Health Plan | Covered Ca Exchange | $1,310.73 | ↑ +69% |
| Healthnet | Ambetter Hmo | $1,865.27 | ↑ +141% |
| Healthnet | Ambetter Ppo | $2,157.66 | ↑ +179% |
| Cigna | All Commercial Plans | $3,834.71 | ↑ +396% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Contrast x-ray of brain at other California hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Twain Medical Center | San Andreas | $1,464.54 | $127.68 – $639.94 |
| Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield | Bakersfield | $1,362.69 | $127.68 – $3,751.09 |
| Bakersfield Memorial Hospital | Bakersfield | $1,348.00 | $117.49 – $3,751.09 |
| St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton | Stockton | $1,409.44 | $127.68 – $1,036.00 |
| Mercy Medical Center Merced | Merced | $772.50 | $102.36 – $756.80 |
| Northridge Hospital Medical Center | Northridge | $538.75 | $118.38 – $2,379.96 |
| St Jude Medical Center | Fullerton | $1,833.60 | $481.18 – $1,865.27 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital Orange | Orange | $956.16 | $470.88 – $1,865.27 |