Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles accepts a broad range of insurance, including most employer-sponsored PPO plans, Original Medicare, a defined list of Medicare Advantage plans, TRICARE, and a narrow slice of Medi-Cal coverage. Whether your specific plan is in-network depends on the contract between your insurer and the hospital, and those contracts change. The insurance accepted at Cedars-Sinai is best confirmed by calling the hospital’s insurance line at 1-800-CEDARS-1, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time.1Cedars-Sinai. Insurance
How to Verify Your Coverage
Online provider directories are a reasonable starting point but often outdated. A hospital listed as in-network today may have had its contract terminated last week, and the opposite happens too: the hospital may have just joined a network that hasn’t been updated online yet.
The reliable approach is a two-call check. Call Cedars-Sinai at 1-800-CEDARS-1 with your insurance ID number, group number, and the type of service you need.1Cedars-Sinai. Insurance Then call the member services number on the back of your insurance card and ask the same question. If both confirm in-network status, ask your insurer for a reference number. That reference number becomes your documentation if a billing dispute comes up later.
One thing to watch for: even when the hospital is in-network, individual doctors treating you there may not be. A surgeon, anesthesiologist, or radiologist working at Cedars-Sinai can bill under a separate contract. Federal surprise billing protections limit your exposure in many of those situations, but confirming both the facility and the treating physician’s network status avoids problems altogether.
Medicare Plans Cedars-Sinai Accepts
Cedars-Sinai participates in Original Medicare, so anyone enrolled in Part A and Part B can receive care there. Because Medigap policies work alongside Original Medicare rather than replacing it, any Medigap plan is accepted wherever Original Medicare is accepted. Cedars-Sinai confirms this on its Medicare coverage page.2Cedars-Sinai. Insurance Coverage for Medicare Participants
Medicare Advantage is a different story. These plans replace Original Medicare with private managed care, and Cedars-Sinai is only in-network if the specific plan has a contract with the hospital. For 2026, Cedars-Sinai participates in Medicare Advantage plans from these insurers:2Cedars-Sinai. Insurance Coverage for Medicare Participants
- Alignment Health Plan: Alignment Health Advantage PPO
- Anthem Blue Cross of California: Several CareMore HMO-POS plans, including Medicare Advantage, Chronic Care, Kidney Care, and Lung Care options, plus the Full Dual Advantage Aligned HMO D-SNP
- UnitedHealthcare: Four AARP Medicare Advantage HMO POS plans
- SCAN Health Plan: SCAN Affirm, Classic, Connections, Inspired, MyChoice, and Prime (all HMO)
If your Medicare Advantage plan isn’t on this list, Cedars-Sinai is likely out-of-network for you. Medicare Advantage HMO plans also generally require a referral from your primary care physician before you see a specialist.
Medi-Cal Coverage at Cedars-Sinai
Cedars-Sinai’s Medi-Cal acceptance is narrow. The hospital is in-network only for Molina Medi-Cal members age 21 and older who are enrolled with a primary care physician overseeing care through the internal medicine residency program. As of the most recent update, Cedars-Sinai is not accepting new Medi-Cal members under this arrangement.3Cedars-Sinai. Insurance Coverage for Medi-Cal Participants
The hospital also contracts with two Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) plans: Brandman Centers for Senior Care and InnovAGE.3Cedars-Sinai. Insurance Coverage for Medi-Cal Participants Outside these specific programs, most Medi-Cal managed care plans do not include Cedars-Sinai. If you are a Medi-Cal beneficiary who needs care at Cedars-Sinai, contact your managed care plan about single-case agreements or out-of-network authorization for services not available in your plan’s network.
Employer and Marketplace Plans
Most patients at Cedars-Sinai are covered through an employer. Large national insurers like Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare commonly include Cedars-Sinai in their employer-sponsored PPO networks. “Same insurance company” does not mean “same network,” though. A Cigna PPO from one employer might include Cedars-Sinai while a Cigna HMO from another employer does not.
Plan type shapes what you can expect:
- PPO plans offer the most flexibility because they cover out-of-network care at reduced rates rather than excluding it entirely.
- HMO plans typically lock you into a defined network and require referrals to see specialists.
- EPO plans require no referrals, but pay zero outside the network.
Your Summary of Benefits and Coverage document spells out network restrictions, copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket limits.4HealthCare.gov. Summary of Benefits and Coverage
The same logic applies to plans bought through Covered California, the federal marketplace, or directly from an insurer. PPO plans are most likely to include Cedars-Sinai; HMO and EPO plans from smaller regional insurers often exclude it. Many individual plans also require prior authorization for hospital admissions, surgeries, imaging, and expensive medications. Skip that step, and the insurer can deny the claim entirely, leaving you responsible for the full bill. Call your insurer before scheduling any non-emergency procedure at Cedars-Sinai to confirm both network status and authorization requirements.
If you’re traveling to Los Angeles from another state specifically to receive care at Cedars-Sinai, verify network status before you go. HMO plans are generally limited to the state or county where you enrolled and cover only emergency care outside that area. PPO plans travel better because they maintain broader national networks, though your cost-sharing may be higher for out-of-area providers.
TRICARE and Workers’ Compensation
Active-duty service members, retirees, and military dependents enrolled in TRICARE can receive care at civilian hospitals, but the rules depend on which TRICARE plan you carry. TRICARE Select and most premium-based plans let you visit any TRICARE-authorized provider without a referral. TRICARE Prime typically requires a referral from your primary care manager for non-emergency care at a civilian facility.5TRICARE. Getting Care Contact your regional TRICARE contractor to confirm Cedars-Sinai is authorized under your specific plan before scheduling care.
If your injury or illness is work-related, California workers’ compensation law requires your employer’s insurance to pay for medically necessary treatment. The claims administrator handles the bills directly, and California law makes it illegal for a hospital to bill you for care the provider knows relates to a workplace injury. You generally do not choose your own hospital for the first 30 days of treatment unless you predesignated a personal physician before the injury, but your employer’s medical provider network may include Cedars-Sinai for follow-up care.
If You Don’t Have Coverage That Works Here
Federal law guarantees access to emergency treatment at Cedars-Sinai regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Under EMTALA, a hospital with an emergency department must provide a medical screening exam to anyone requesting care and must stabilize any emergency medical condition before discharge or transfer. The hospital cannot delay screening or treatment to ask about your insurance or payment method.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1395dd – Examination and Treatment for Emergency Medical Conditions and Women in Labor You’ll still receive a bill afterward. EMTALA prevents being turned away, not being charged.
The federal No Surprises Act, in effect since January 2022, protects you when out-of-network providers treat you at an in-network facility. This happens often: you schedule surgery at Cedars-Sinai, confirm the hospital is in-network, and then the anesthesiologist who shows up turns out to be out-of-network. Your cost-sharing for that provider is now limited to what you would have paid in-network, and those payments count toward your in-network deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. The law prohibits balance billing for ancillary services like anesthesiology, pathology, radiology, and neonatology provided by out-of-network doctors at in-network hospitals, and providers of these services cannot ask you to waive the protections.7U.S. Department of Labor. Avoid Surprise Healthcare Expenses: How the No Surprises Act Can Protect You For emergency services, your insurer must apply in-network cost-sharing whether you chose the ER or arrived by ambulance.8Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. No Surprises Act Overview of Key Consumer Protections
If you’re uninsured or paying out of pocket, Cedars-Sinai must give you a good faith estimate of expected charges before scheduled services. The estimate must arrive within one business day of scheduling for services at least three business days out, or within three business days of your request.9eCFR. 45 CFR 149.610 – Requirements for Provision of Good Faith Estimates of Expected Charges for Uninsured (or Self-Pay) Individuals It must include charges from all providers reasonably expected to be involved. If the final bill exceeds the estimate by $400 or more, you can dispute the charges through a federal process.
Cedars-Sinai is a nonprofit hospital and maintains a financial assistance policy required under federal tax law.10eCFR. 26 CFR 1.501(r)-4 – Financial Assistance Policy and Emergency Medical Care Policy Patients with household income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level qualify for full charity care, meaning their bills are written off entirely. Patients with income between 401% and 600% of the federal poverty level qualify for discounted payment rates on a sliding scale.11Cedars-Sinai. Financial Assistance Policy For a family of four in 2026, 400% of the federal poverty level is roughly $124,800 in annual income, so eligibility is broader than many people assume. To apply, contact Patient Financial Services at 323-866-8600. Payment plans are also available for patients who don’t qualify for financial assistance but need to spread out costs.12Cedars-Sinai. Patient Financial Assistance Program If you’ve already received a large bill and didn’t know about these options, apply anyway. Nonprofit hospitals are required to accept applications for a defined period after care is provided.