healthcosts.net
Blood Culture Test at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$38.58
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.
$48.22
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.
$6.19 with United Healthcare vs $17.54 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Healthcare | HMO | $6.19 | ↓ -84% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $6.19 | ↓ -84% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $10.32 | ↓ -73% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $10.32 | ↓ -73% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $10.32 | ↓ -73% |
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $10.53 | ↓ -73% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $10.53 | ↓ -73% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $10.53 | ↓ -73% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $10.84 | ↓ -72% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $10.84 | ↓ -72% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $10.84 | ↓ -72% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $12.63 | ↓ -67% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $13.42 | ↓ -65% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $14.18 | ↓ -63% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $16.06 | ↓ -58% |
| Aetna | HMO | $17.54 | ↓ -55% |
| Aetna | PPO | $17.54 | ↓ -55% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Blood Culture Test at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $38.58 | $6.19 – $25.41 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $183.00 | $10.11 – $183.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $100.80 | $10.32 – $10.32 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $118.95 | $69.17 – $205.98 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $570.00 | $10.00 – $93.00 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $118.95 | $94.19 – $191.27 |
| MercyOne Centerville Medical Center | Centerville | $183.00 | $50.22 – $183.00 |
| MercyOne Newton Medical Center | Newton | $411.00 | $9.09 – $183.00 |