CT scan, head (with and without contrast)
Facility: Valley Children's Hospital
Billing Code: 70470 (CPT)
This hospital's typical commercial price is $512 compared to the $346 fair price benchmark.
Balances commercial hospital prices against CMS clinical safety, infection control, and patient experience.
Highest price of the 9 CA hospitals we have prices for — worth calling around.
Black dot = this hospital, among the 9 CA hospitals with a price for this procedure. Full list below.
A fair price for a CT scan, head (with and without contrast) is about $346 (about 1.9× the $179 Medicare rate). Valley Children's Hospital charges insurers about $512 — above the fair price. Located in Madera, CA.
This price is above the fair BaseRate — you may be able to pay less
Ask the hospital for the cash / self-pay price, check whether you qualify for financial assistance, or negotiate the bill down toward the fair price of about $346. Many patients pay well below the first number they’re quoted — the checklists below walk you through it.
What each insurance company pays
Which insurers have negotiated a price with this hospital for this procedure — and which haven’t.
4 of 6 major insurers have a published price at this hospital
Crossed out = this hospital hasn’t published a negotiated price for that insurer for this procedure. It doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t accepted — ask your insurer.
| Insurance company | Price range | vs. Medicare |
|---|---|---|
| UnitedHealthcaremajor | $331 - $844 | 185% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shieldmajor | $598 - $3,535 | 334% |
| Aetnamajor | $3,122 | 1742% |
| Kaiser Permanentemajor | $334 - $3,028 | 186% |
| Health Net | $1,640 - $3,051 | 915% |
| + 26 smaller / regional plans | $330 - $3,960 |
Self-Pay How to get the cash price
Insurance Before you use insurance
Estimate your out-of-pocket cost
A rough estimate of what you’d pay with insurance (deductible + coinsurance) versus paying the cash price yourself.
Other Procedures at Valley Children's Hospital
Compare: CT scan, head (with and without contrast) at other CA hospitals
- Saint Agnes Medical Center · Fresno $54
- Mayers Memorial Hospital · Fall River Mills $61
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hosp & Trauma Ctr · San Francisco $63
- Natividad Medical Center · Salinas $73
- Adventist Health Vallejo · Vallejo $79
- Adventist Health Mendocino Coast · Fort Bragg $87
- Trinity Hospital · Weaverville $98
- Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA · Los Angeles $98
Insurance negotiated median for the same procedure, sorted lowest first.
Audit a Bill or Quote at Valley Children's Hospital (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $1,691
At 274% FPL (201%–400% FPL tier), 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5) caps FAP-eligible bills at Amounts Generally Billed (36.3% of gross = $1,691).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Ask Valley Children's Hospital's billing desk for their written 45 CFR § 180 discounted self-pay cash price and Good Faith Estimate under the No Surprises Act.
Negotiate Toward $346 Fair BaseRate ($179 Medicare)
Your bill ($4,659) is $4,313 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($346) and 26.0× the $179 Medicare rate.
How to Pay Less Nearby: Freestanding Centers, Insurer Leverage & Outpatient Savings
Verify the Raw Data: Official Hospital MRF, CMS Medicare.gov & Federal Filings
Safe-Harbor Data Corrections: Parsed directly from public 45 CFR § 180 hospital filings, CMS Care Compare, and CMS HCRIS cost reports. Hospital compliance officers may submit updated MRF URLs or rate tables for verification.