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Upper Back (Thoracic Spine) MRI (with contrast) at UnityPoint Health - St. Luke's Hospital
1026 A Avenue N.E, Cedar Rapids, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1083708226
$4,026.96
Cash price 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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$5,033.69
Gross charge 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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$77.96 with Aetna vs $1,887.63 with Medica Exchange Insure — 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 →
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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 ?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 ?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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $77.96 | ↓ -98% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $79.52 | ↓ -98% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $79.52 | ↓ -98% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $81.86 | ↓ -98% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $81.86 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $81.86 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $113.58 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $113.58 | ↓ -97% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $164.79 | ↓ -96% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $175.58 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $186.90 | ↓ -95% |
| Wellmark UHP Self-Funded | Commercial | $186.90 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | HMO | $201.04 | ↓ -95% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $219.80 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | PPO | $231.85 | ↓ -94% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $314.12 | ↓ -92% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $314.12 | ↓ -92% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $1,681.25 | ↓ -58% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $1,887.63 | ↓ -53% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Upper Back (Thoracic Spine) MRI (with contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital | Des Moines | $4,053.38 | $77.96 – $1,489.62 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $1,665.09 | $77.96 – $1,096.88 |
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $1,946.10 | $329.29 – $2,994.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,167.60 | $341.85 – $478.59 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $3,149.90 | $328.68 – $4,846.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $1,275.60 | $341.85 – $478.59 |
| MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center | DeWitt | $1,275.60 | $722.84 – $1,551.98 |
| MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center | Waterloo | $3,149.90 | $328.68 – $4,846.00 |