Augumentation percutaneous vertebral inc cavity creation ea addl thoracic/lumbar vertebral body at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital

1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Jan 28, 2026 · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$13,375.85

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.

Full explanation →

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

$16,719.81

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.

$190.83 with Aetna vs $4,915.62 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 →

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
Aetna Medicare Advantage $190.83 ↓ -99%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $194.65 ↓ -99%
Molina Medicare Advantage $194.65 ↓ -99%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $200.37 ↓ -99%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $200.37 ↓ -99%
Humana Medicare Advantage $200.37 ↓ -99%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $415.90 ↓ -97%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $415.90 ↓ -97%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $430.51 ↓ -97%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $489.20 ↓ -96%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $509.54 ↓ -96%
Aetna HMO $510.65 ↓ -96%
Aetna PPO $621.89 ↓ -95%
United Healthcare PPO $683.19 ↓ -95%
United Healthcare HMO $683.19 ↓ -95%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $4,380.59 ↓ -67%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $4,915.62 ↓ -63%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid not published by hospital
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Augumentation percutaneous vertebral inc cavity creation ea addl thoracic/lumbar vertebral body at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $37,827.08 $183.41 – $24,925.18
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $6,827.40 not published
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $32,814.32 $9.58 – $25,652.84
MercyOne Newton Medical Center Newton $5,925.40 $5,925.40 – $9,116.00
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Mason City $6,632.60 $2,612.22 – $10,204.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $7,885.80 not published
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center DeWitt $492.60 $599.33 – $2,679.00
MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center Waterloo $6,632.60 $2,397.94 – $10,204.00

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →