The poster child for cash vs ‘negotiated’ imaging.
Your cash sticker$911
Typical commercial / insured$1,492
Medicare-like yardstick$469
Rack rate if you have no deal$3,830
Insured markup on this quote: $581 (64%) above cash. Quality score 70/100 at California Community Hospital (model). This episode is tagged modeled from anchors.
Full-service community hospital (model). The default local option.
Evidence on this page. Commercial prices vs Medicare, by state · Cash menus beat insured allowed amounts — when they exist — see the evidence ledger. Hospitals are archetypes (academic / community / ASC), not named facilities. Coastal flagships: wage + bargaining power, not just ‘better care.’