Blood, l/r, irradiated at CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs

800 Mercy Drive, Council Bluffs, IA · Chihealth · · NPI 1265517759

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 16, 2026

$452.34

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.

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

$1,077.00

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.

$79.91 with Centene vs $915.45 with MultiPlan — 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
Centene Medicaid|IA Total Care $79.91 ↓ -82%
Amerigroup Medicaid|All Plans $79.91 ↓ -82%
IAMolina Medicaid|All Plans $81.47 ↓ -82%
United Medicare|All Plans $82.03 ↓ -82%
PACE Medicare|All Plans $82.03 ↓ -82%
BCBS - NE Medicare|All Plans $82.03 ↓ -82%
Humana Medicare|All Plans $82.03 ↓ -82%
Medica Medicare|All Plans $82.03 ↓ -82%
Todays Options Medicare|All Plans $83.67 ↓ -82%
Centene Medicare|All Plans $84.49 ↓ -81%
Great Plains Medicare|All Plans $86.13 ↓ -81%
Amerigroup Medicare|All Plans $86.13 ↓ -81%
Centene Medicaid|NE Total Care $161.55 ↓ -64%
AMPS Commercial|All Plans $182.11 ↓ -60%
ELAP Commercial|All Plans $301.56 ↓ -33%
United Medicaid|Community Plan $495.42 ↑ +10%
QuikTrip Commercial|All Plans $646.20 ↑ +43%
Creighton University Employees Commercial|All Plans $700.05 ↑ +55%
PHCS Commercial|All Plans $764.67 ↑ +69%
United Commercial|All Plans $796.98 ↑ +76%
Medica Commercial|Open Access $807.75 ↑ +79%
Midlands Choice Commercial|Premier $807.75 ↑ +79%
Midlands Choice Commercial|Standard $807.75 ↑ +79%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $915.45 ↑ +102%

Visitor-reported prices

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Blood, l/r, irradiated at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center West Des Moines $995.00 $200.00 – $995.00
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $646.75 $200.00 – $995.00
CHI Health Mercy Corning Corning $443.04 $396.89 – $904.54
CHI Health Missouri Valley Missouri Valley $452.27 $323.05 – $904.54
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport not published $80.57 – $112.80
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport not published $80.57 – $112.80
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo not published $69.76 – $120.41
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque not published $74.00 – $153.70

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →