Brain MRI (without contrast) at CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs
800 Mercy Drive, Council Bluffs, IA · Chihealth · · NPI 1265517759
$1,454.04
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$3,462.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$229.50 with Amerigroup vs $2,942.70 with MultiPlan — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amerigroup | Medicaid|All Plans | $229.50 | ↓ -84% |
| Centene | Medicaid|IA Total Care | $229.50 | ↓ -84% |
| IAMolina | Medicaid|All Plans | $234.00 | ↓ -84% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $235.57 | ↓ -84% |
| Medica | Medicare|All Plans | $235.57 | ↓ -84% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $235.57 | ↓ -84% |
| PACE | Medicare|All Plans | $235.57 | ↓ -84% |
| BCBS - NE | Medicare|All Plans | $235.57 | ↓ -84% |
| Todays Options | Medicare|All Plans | $240.28 | ↓ -83% |
| Centene | Medicare|All Plans | $242.64 | ↓ -83% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $247.35 | ↓ -83% |
| Great Plains | Medicare|All Plans | $247.35 | ↓ -83% |
| Medica | Commercial|ACO | $249.48 | ↓ -83% |
| Medica | Commercial|CHI Health | $393.15 | ↓ -73% |
| Medica | Commercial|All Other Plans | $411.70 | ↓ -72% |
| Creighton University Employees | Commercial|All Plans | $414.16 | ↓ -72% |
| United | Commercial|All Plans | $512.79 | ↓ -65% |
| Centene | Medicaid|NE Total Care | $519.30 | ↓ -64% |
| AMPS | Commercial|All Plans | $522.97 | ↓ -64% |
| Greater Omaha Packing | Commercial|Narrow Network | $710.91 | ↓ -51% |
| Millard Public Schools | Commercial|Narrow Network | $710.91 | ↓ -51% |
| One World | Commercial|Narrow Network | $710.91 | ↓ -51% |
| Greater Omaha Packing | Commercial|Broad Network | $817.55 | ↓ -44% |
| Millard Public Schools | Commercial|Broad Network | $817.55 | ↓ -44% |
| Timpte | Commercial|Broad Network | $817.55 | ↓ -44% |
| One World | Commercial|Broad Network | $817.55 | ↓ -44% |
| ELAP | Commercial|All Plans | $969.36 | ↓ -33% |
| United | Medicaid|Community Plan | $1,592.52 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Commercial|Open Access | $1,800.24 | ↑ +24% |
| Midlands Choice | Commercial|Premier | $1,800.24 | ↑ +24% |
| QuikTrip | Commercial|All Plans | $2,077.20 | ↑ +43% |
| PHCS | Commercial|All Plans | $2,458.02 | ↑ +69% |
| Midlands Choice | Commercial|Standard | $2,596.50 | ↑ +79% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,942.70 | ↑ +102% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRI (without contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,382.40 | $231.38 – $323.93 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $2,860.65 | $214.06 – $4,401.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $2,297.10 | $1,399.11 – $3,534.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $1,944.15 | $219.72 – $2,991.00 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $2,297.10 | $1,350.69 – $3,534.00 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $2,068.30 | $224.79 – $3,182.00 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $2,297.10 | $1,837.68 – $3,693.74 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $5,621.00 | $225.21 – $5,621.00 |