Artery x-rays chest at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$2,221.12
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.
$2,776.40
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.
$49.58 with Aetna vs $3,032.46 with Iowa Total Care — 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 | $49.58 | ↓ -98% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $50.57 | ↓ -98% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $50.57 | ↓ -98% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $52.06 | ↓ -98% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $52.06 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $52.06 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $70.03 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $70.03 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $93.10 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $93.10 | ↓ -96% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $104.45 | ↓ -95% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $109.41 | ↓ -95% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $109.50 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | HMO | $124.65 | ↓ -94% |
| Aetna | PPO | $143.41 | ↓ -94% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $727.42 | ↓ -67% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $816.26 | ↓ -63% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $3,032.46 | ↑ +37% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $3,032.46 | ↑ +37% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Artery x-rays chest at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $5,850.00 | $3,213.00 – $9,000.00 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $473.60 | $49.58 – $2,608.88 |
| UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital | Dubuque | $473.60 | $49.58 – $2,767.37 |
| UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center | Grinnell | $473.60 | $49.58 – $3,131.65 |
| UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center | Anamosa | $473.60 | $49.58 – $109.41 |
| UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown | Marshalltown | $473.60 | $49.58 – $3,062.82 |
| UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown | Sioux City | $3,441.49 | $42.64 – $2,787.49 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf | Bettendorf | $473.60 | $49.58 – $2,708.42 |