Biopsy skin incisional single lesion at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$559.36
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.
$699.19
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.
$50.83 with Aetna vs $1,407.28 with Aetna — 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 | $50.83 | ↓ -91% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $51.85 | ↓ -91% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $51.85 | ↓ -91% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $53.37 | ↓ -90% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $53.37 | ↓ -90% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $53.37 | ↓ -90% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $100.20 | ↓ -82% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $100.20 | ↓ -82% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $107.76 | ↓ -81% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $117.90 | ↓ -79% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $135.57 | ↓ -76% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $183.19 | ↓ -67% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $186.01 | ↓ -67% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $186.01 | ↓ -67% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $205.56 | ↓ -63% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $589.75 | ↑ +5% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $589.75 | ↑ +5% |
| Aetna | HMO | $1,228.80 | ↑ +120% |
| Aetna | PPO | $1,407.28 | ↑ +152% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Biopsy skin incisional single lesion at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $399.00 | $14.74 – $1,434.84 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $234.00 | not published |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $399.00 | $14.74 – $418.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $399.00 | $14.74 – $1,581.58 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $516.00 | $14.74 – $275.32 |
| MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center | Mason City | $399.00 | $12.53 – $1,601.18 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $902.40 | $585.94 – $820.32 |
| MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center | DeWitt | $246.00 | $299.30 – $2,679.00 |