Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs
800 Mercy Drive, Council Bluffs, IA · Chihealth · · NPI 1265517759
$1,094.10
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.
$2,605.00
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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$219.22 with Medica vs $2,214.25 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 →
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medica | Commercial|ACO | $219.22 | ↓ -80% |
| Medica | Commercial|CHI Health | $337.76 | ↓ -69% |
| Centene | Medicaid|IA Total Care | $339.07 | ↓ -69% |
| Amerigroup | Medicaid|All Plans | $339.07 | ↓ -69% |
| IAMolina | Medicaid|All Plans | $345.72 | ↓ -68% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $348.04 | ↓ -68% |
| Medica | Medicare|All Plans | $348.04 | ↓ -68% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $348.04 | ↓ -68% |
| PACE | Medicare|All Plans | $348.04 | ↓ -68% |
| BCBS - NE | Medicare|All Plans | $348.04 | ↓ -68% |
| Medica | Commercial|All Other Plans | $353.69 | ↓ -68% |
| Todays Options | Medicare|All Plans | $355.00 | ↓ -68% |
| Centene | Medicare|All Plans | $358.48 | ↓ -67% |
| Great Plains | Medicare|All Plans | $365.44 | ↓ -67% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $365.44 | ↓ -67% |
| Centene | Medicaid|NE Total Care | $390.75 | ↓ -64% |
| Creighton University Employees | Commercial|All Plans | $441.40 | ↓ -60% |
| United | Commercial|All Plans | $546.52 | ↓ -50% |
| ELAP | Commercial|All Plans | $729.40 | ↓ -33% |
| One World | Commercial|Narrow Network | $763.40 | ↓ -30% |
| Greater Omaha Packing | Commercial|Narrow Network | $763.40 | ↓ -30% |
| Millard Public Schools | Commercial|Narrow Network | $763.40 | ↓ -30% |
| AMPS | Commercial|All Plans | $772.65 | ↓ -29% |
| One World | Commercial|Broad Network | $877.91 | ↓ -20% |
| Timpte | Commercial|Broad Network | $877.91 | ↓ -20% |
| Millard Public Schools | Commercial|Broad Network | $877.91 | ↓ -20% |
| Greater Omaha Packing | Commercial|Broad Network | $877.91 | ↓ -20% |
| United | Medicaid|Community Plan | $1,198.30 | ↑ +10% |
| Midlands Choice | Commercial|Premier | $1,354.60 | ↑ +24% |
| Medica | Commercial|Open Access | $1,354.60 | ↑ +24% |
| QuikTrip | Commercial|All Plans | $1,563.00 | ↑ +43% |
| PHCS | Commercial|All Plans | $1,849.55 | ↑ +69% |
| Midlands Choice | Commercial|Standard | $1,953.75 | ↑ +79% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $2,214.25 | ↑ +102% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,323.00 | $341.85 – $478.59 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $1,626.95 | $312.99 – $2,503.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $1,824.55 | $1,111.29 – $2,807.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $2,071.55 | $321.26 – $3,187.00 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $1,923.35 | $328.68 – $2,959.00 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $4,165.00 | $329.29 – $4,165.00 |
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $1,692.60 | $329.29 – $2,604.00 |
| MercyOne Centerville Medical Center | Centerville | $2,807.00 | $770.24 – $2,807.00 |