Brachy src nonstrand hdr ir-192 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

$389.44

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.

$486.80

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.

$127.54 with Medica Exchange Inspire vs $833.24 with United Healthcare — 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
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $127.54 ↓ -67%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $143.12 ↓ -63%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $210.78 ↓ -46%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $349.24 ↓ -10%
Molina Medicare Advantage $349.24 ↓ -10%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $349.24 ↓ -10%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $359.51 ↓ -8%
Humana Medicare Advantage $359.51 ↓ -8%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $359.51 ↓ -8%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $442.58 ↑ +14%
Aetna HMO $687.32 ↑ +76%
Aetna PPO $787.16 ↑ +102%
United Healthcare HMO $833.24 ↑ +114%
United Healthcare PPO $833.24 ↑ +114%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid not published by hospital
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO not published by hospital
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial not published by hospital
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid not published by hospital
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Brachy src nonstrand hdr ir-192 at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $780.00 $241.20 – $1,200.00
CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs Council Bluffs $346.50 $123.75 – $701.25
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo not published $349.24 – $489.84
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque not published $349.24 – $625.23
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell not published $349.24 – $359.51
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown not published $349.24 – $601.74
UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown Sioux City not published $349.24 – $511.19
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Bettendorf not published $349.24 – $547.82

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →