How much does office visit, new patient, level 4 cost in California?
CPT 99204 — the fair price, every hospital's price, and the Medicare benchmark for California.
Estimates only. Educational estimates from public Medicare
benchmarks and hospital-published prices — not a guarantee, and not legal, medical, or financial advice.
99204 Office visit, new patient, level 4
Ask to pay
$327
About 2.0× what Medicare pays — most hospitals accept a self-pay rate in this range.
Typical
$274
Medicare $163
Ask $327
$39 lowboxed = typical rangehigh $16,591
What Medicare paysⓘ
$163
Typical price near you
$274
Cash / self-pay price
$386
Prices near you — 65 facilities, lowest first
| Facility | Type | Price | vs Medicare | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adventist Health Bakersfield (Bakersfield) lowest ⚠ likely error | Hospital | $39cash | 0.2× | — |
| Adventist Health Glendale (Glendale) | Hospital | $41cash | 0.3× | ★★★★★ |
| Adventist Health White Memorial (Los Angeles) | Hospital | $50cash | 0.3× | — |
| Eisenhower Medical Center (Rancho Mirage) | Hospital | $66cash | 0.4× | ★★★★★ |
| JFK Memorial Hospital (Indio) | Hospital | $69negotiated | 0.4× | — |
| UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center (Santa Monica) | Hospital | $69negotiated | 0.4× | ★★★★★ |
| Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles) | Hospital | $69negotiated | 0.4× | ★★★★★ |
| UCI Health – Placentia Linda (Placentia) | Hospital | $72cash | 0.4× | — |
| UCI Health – Fountain Valley (Fountain Valley) | Hospital | $72cash | 0.4× | — |
| UCI Health – Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos) | Hospital | $72cash | 0.4× | — |
| UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco) | Hospital | $94cash | 0.6× | ★★★★★ |
| Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (Palo Alto) | Hospital | $95cash | 0.6× | — |
| Centinela Hospital Medical Center (Inglewood) | Hospital | $99negotiated | 0.6× | — |
| Dignity Mercy General Hospital (Sacramento) | Hospital | $109cash | 0.7× | ★★★★★ |
| UC San Diego Health - Hillcrest & Jacobs Medical Center (San Diego) | Hospital | $125cash | 0.8× | — |
| Dignity St. Joseph's Medical Center (Stockton) | Hospital | $133cash | 0.8× | — |
| Dignity Mercy San Juan Medical Center (Carmichael) | Hospital | $137cash | 0.8× | — |
| Los Angeles General Medical Center (Los Angeles) | Hospital | $143negotiated | 0.9× | ★★★★★ |
| Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Torrance) | Hospital | $143negotiated | 0.9× | — |
| UC Davis Medical Center (Sacramento) | Hospital | $148cash | 0.9× | ★★★★★ |
| USC Arcadia Hospital (Arcadia) | Hospital | $167cash | 1.0× | — |
| Community Regional Medical Center (Fresno) | Hospital | $183negotiated | 1.1× | — |
| Clovis Community Medical Center (Clovis) | Hospital | $183negotiated | 1.1× | — |
| UCI Medical Center (Orange) | Hospital | $186cash | 1.1× | ★★★★★ |
| Dignity Bakersfield Memorial Hospital (Bakersfield) | Hospital | $195cash | 1.2× | — |
| Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center (Burbank) | Hospital | $201cash | 1.2× | — |
| Providence Holy Cross Medical Center (Mission Hills) | Hospital | $201cash | 1.2× | — |
| Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance (Torrance) | Hospital | $201cash | 1.2× | ★★★★★ |
| Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center (Tarzana) | Hospital | $201cash | 1.2× | ★★★★★ |
| Tri-City Medical Center (Oceanside) | Hospital | $248cash | 1.5× | — |
| Highland Hospital – Alameda Health System (Oakland) | Hospital | $274cash | 1.7× | — |
| Providence Mission Hospital (Mission Viejo) | Hospital | $352cash | 2.2× | ★★★★★ |
| Providence St. Mary Medical Center (Apple Valley) | Hospital | $363cash | 2.2× | — |
| Natividad Medical Center (Salinas) | Hospital | $377cash | 2.3× | — |
| John Muir Health Walnut Creek Medical Center (Walnut Creek) | Hospital | $384cash | 2.3× | ★★★★★ |
| John Muir Health Concord Medical Center (Concord) | Hospital | $384cash | 2.3× | — |
| Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center (Napa) | Hospital | $386cash | 2.4× | — |
| Keck Hospital of USC (Los Angeles) | Hospital | $390cash | 2.4× | ★★★★★ |
| Providence St. Jude Medical Center (Fullerton) | Hospital | $400cash | 2.4× | ★★★★★ |
| Desert Regional Medical Center (Palm Springs) | Hospital | $416cash | 2.5× | — |
| Providence St. Joseph Hospital (Orange) | Hospital | $437cash | 2.7× | ★★★★★ |
| Sharp Coronado Hospital (Coronado) | Hospital | $454cash | 2.8× | ★★★★★ |
| Sharp Grossmont Hospital (La Mesa) | Hospital | $454cash | 2.8× | ★★★★★ |
| Sharp Memorial Hospital (San Diego) | Hospital | $454cash | 2.8× | ★★★★★ |
| Kaweah Health Medical Center (Visalia) | Hospital | $465cash | 2.8× | — |
| Stanford Health Care (Stanford) | Hospital | $468cash | 2.9× | ★★★★★ |
| Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital (Santa Rosa) | Hospital | $499cash | 3.1× | — |
| Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles) | Hospital | $623cash | 3.8× | ★★★★★ |
| Dignity Glendale Memorial Hospital (Glendale) | Hospital | $631cash | 3.9× | — |
| MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center (Long Beach) | Hospital | $676cash | 4.1× | ★★★★★ |
| MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center (Fountain Valley) | Hospital | $676cash | 4.1× | — |
| MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center (Laguna Hills) | Hospital | $676cash | 4.1× | ★★★★★ |
| Rady Children's Hospital (San Diego) | Hospital | $712cash | 4.4× | — |
| Riverside Community Hospital (Riverside) | Hospital | $718cash | 4.4× | — |
| Dignity St. Mary Medical Center (Long Beach) | Hospital | $832cash | 5.1× | — |
| Dignity Northridge Hospital Medical Center (Northridge) | Hospital | $897cash | 5.5× | ★★★★★ |
| Dignity St. Bernardine Medical Center (San Bernardino) | Hospital | $1,051cash | 6.4× | — |
| Dignity Mercy Medical Center Redding (Redding) | Hospital | $1,138cash | 7.0× | — |
| Dignity St. John's Regional Medical Center (Oxnard) | Hospital | $1,166cash | 7.1× | — |
| Dignity Dominican Hospital (Santa Cruz) | Hospital | $1,290cash | 7.9× | — |
| Dignity California Hospital Medical Center (Los Angeles) gross charge | Hospital | $1,674cash | 10.2× | — |
| Los Robles Health System (Thousand Oaks) gross charge | Hospital | $1,955cash | 12.0× | — |
| Dignity Sequoia Hospital (Redwood City) gross charge | Hospital | $2,377cash | 14.6× | ★★★★★ |
| Good Samaritan Hospital (San Jose) gross charge | Hospital | $2,958cash | 18.1× | — |
| Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center (Chula Vista) gross charge | Hospital | $16,591cash | 101.6× | — |
Prices from each hospital's public machine-readable file; imaging & surgery-center prices are published self-pay rates (often the cheapest option). vs Medicare is how many times the Medicare rate each facility charges. 6 unusually low/high prices excluded from the typical price as likely data errors.
💬 What to say — negotiation scripts
- For 99204 (Office visit, new patient, level 4), Medicare's benchmark rate is $163.35. A fair self-pay target for this line is $326.70. If I was charged more than that, please reduce it toward this benchmark.
- Your own published cash / self-pay price for 99204 is $385.92, and negotiated rates at nearby facilities run $134.66–$653.74. Please apply a rate in that range to my bill rather than the gross charge.
- Please send a fully itemized bill listing every CPT/HCPCS/DRG code and its individual charge, so I can review each line against published rates.
- Separately, what is your financial assistance / charity care policy, and am I eligible? Please send me the application and the income thresholds.
See office visit, new patient, level 4 prices in another area
What should 99204 cost in California?
For office visit, new patient, level 4 (CPT 99204) in California, a fair self-pay price is around $274, with hospitals ranging from $135 to $654 across 65 facilities. Medicare's benchmark rate is $163, the floor to negotiate toward. The card above lists each hospital's price, cheapest first, with CMS quality stars.
Frequently asked questions
How much does office visit, new patient, level 4 cost in California?
A fair self-pay price for office visit, new patient, level 4 (CPT 99204) in California is around $274, with hospital prices ranging from $135 to $654 across 65 facilities. These are estimates from hospital-published prices, not a guarantee.
What is the Medicare rate for CPT 99204?
Medicare pays about $163 for office visit, new patient, level 4 (CPT 99204). That's the negotiation floor — a fair cash-pay target is roughly 1.5–2× it, well below typical gross charges.
Can I negotiate the price of office visit, new patient, level 4?
Yes. Under the federal Hospital Price Transparency rule hospitals must publish these rates, so you can ask to pay the cash or negotiated rate instead of the gross charge. Paste your bill on the home page for a ready-to-send appeal letter and the exact numbers to cite.
Got a bill for this?
If you were charged more than the fair price, you can usually negotiate it down. Paste your itemized bill to get a personalized appeal letter, the exact numbers to cite, an AI negotiation coach, and a charity-care eligibility check — free.
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Prices last refreshed September 2026 from each hospital's official CMS machine-readable file. Medicare rate: CY2025 OPPS/PFS/CLFS. Estimates only — not a guarantee.