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Blood Culture Test at MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center

515 College St, Cedar Falls, IA · MercyOne · · NPI 1942241955

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Mar 31, 2026 · Ingested Aug 3, 2026

$570.00

Cash price

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Discounted cash price

What a hospital charges a self-pay patient who pays directly, without going through insurance — usually well below the gross charge.

Example: A CT scan has a $3,200 gross charge but an $850 discounted cash price. Ask for it by name when scheduling — hospitals don't always advertise it up front.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$93.00

Gross charge

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Gross charge (chargemaster price)

The hospital's full, undiscounted list price — pulled from its internal "chargemaster" price list. Almost no one actually pays this.

Example: A chest X-ray has a gross charge of $1,450. The same hospital's discounted cash price for the same X-ray is $180 — the gross charge mostly anchors negotiations, not what patients pay.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$10.00 with IOWA TOTAL CARE vs $93.00 with IOWA DEPT OF PUBLIC HEALTH — same scan, same building. Share

Negotiated rates by payer
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Negotiated rate

The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.

Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.

Full explanation →

Payer
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Payer

The insurance company footing the bill — Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicare, and so on.

Example: "Blue Cross Blue Shield" is the payer. Its negotiated rate for an MRI might be $904, while a different payer's negotiated rate for the same scan is $1,509.

Full explanation →
Plan
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Plan

The specific product an insurer sells — e.g. "Blue Cross PPO 500" — which sets your deductible, coinsurance and negotiated rates.

Example: Two people both insured by Aetna can owe very different amounts for the same MRI: $50 with an HMO plan's flat copay, or the full $1,200 toward a high-deductible PPO plan's unmet deductible.

Full explanation →
Negotiated rate vs. cash
IOWA TOTAL CARE IOWA TOTAL CARE MEDICAID $10.00 ↓ -98%
MOLINA MEDICAID MOLINA MEDICAID $10.09 ↓ -98%
MEDICARE MEDICAL ASSOCIATES HEALTH PLANS MEDICAL ASSOCIATES MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $10.11 ↓ -98%
AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $10.11 ↓ -98%
MEDIGOLD MEDICARE ADVANTAGE MERCYONE HEALTH PLAN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $10.11 ↓ -98%
WELLPOINT MEDICAID WELLPOINT MEDICAID $10.13 ↓ -98%
BLUE CROSS - IA (WELLMARK) MEDICARE ADVANTAGE WELLMARK MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $10.21 ↓ -98%
GEHA UNITED HEALTHCARE $10.32 ↓ -98%
UNITED HEALTHCARE MEDICARE UNITED HEALTHCARE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $10.32 ↓ -98%
UNITED HEALTHCARE UNITED HEALTHCARE $10.32 ↓ -98%
HEALTH PARTNERS MEDICARE ADVANTAGE UNITYPOINT HEALTH PARTNERS MEDICARE ADV $10.42 ↓ -98%
WELLPOINT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE WELLPOINT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE $10.53 ↓ -98%
AMISH HOSPITAL AID AMISH HOSPITAL AID $13.73 ↓ -98%
OSCAR OSCAR $15.84 ↓ -97%
CENTIVO CENTIVO $17.13 ↓ -97%
AMBETTER AMBETTER MARKETPLACE $17.34 ↓ -97%
NOVA CLAIMDOC $20.74 ↓ -96%
CLAIMDOC CLAIMDOC $20.74 ↓ -96%
MEDICAL ASSOCIATES MEDICAL ASSOCIATES $21.86 ↓ -96%
HEALTH CHOICES MEDICAL ASSOCIATES $21.86 ↓ -96%
WEBTPA AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
COVENTRY AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
ALLIED BENEFIT SYSTEMS AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
LUCENT HEALTH AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
LUMINARE HEALTH AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
ASR HEALTH BENEFITS AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
FIRST HEALTH AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
AETNA AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
MERITAIN AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
MEDICAL MUTUAL AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
AETNA DOMESTIC AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
AETNA EAP AETNA $28.10 ↓ -95%
HEALTH PARTNERS HEALTH PARTNERS $30.41 ↓ -95%
MIDLANDS CHOICE MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO $66.03 ↓ -88%
MIDLANDS MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO $66.03 ↓ -88%
AUXIANT MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO $66.03 ↓ -88%
MEDICA MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO $66.03 ↓ -88%
CIGNA MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO $66.03 ↓ -88%
CIGNA EAP MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO $66.03 ↓ -88%
UNITED HEALTHCARE UNITED HEALTHCARE DEERE PREMIER $84.63 ↓ -85%
UNITED HEALTHCARE UHC OPTUM BEHAVIORAL HEALTH $93.00 ↓ -84%
IOWA DEPT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CARE FOR YOURSELF $93.00 ↓ -84%

Visitor-reported prices

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Blood Culture Test at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $38.58 $6.19 – $16.06
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $38.58 $6.19 – $25.41
MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center Oelwein $183.00 $10.11 – $183.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $100.80 $10.32 – $10.32
MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center Dyersville $118.95 $69.17 – $205.98
MercyOne Elkader Medical Center Elkader $118.95 $94.19 – $191.27
MercyOne Centerville Medical Center Centerville $183.00 $50.22 – $183.00
MercyOne Newton Medical Center Newton $411.00 $9.09 – $183.00

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →