Hospitals (and maybe urgent care facilities) will try very hard to prevent you from paying cash prices if you have insurance, because they will make less money.

Hospitals (and maybe urgent care facilities) will try very hard to prevent you from paying cash prices if you have insurance, because they will make less money. Some hospitals might even refuse to share their cash rates with you if you tell them you have insurance. Even if you have shared your insurance with a health provider, you can pay cash prices, but you have to sign a document informing not to bill your insurance. The best cash rates are in Los Angeles with a few hospitals that are the medicare reimbursement rates or the medicare rates plus 5%. There are also hospitals that cap surgical costs for self-payers in LA, which is can be an awesome deal. Sadly those kind of excellent cash deals do not exist in the Bay Area or San Diego.