healthcosts.net
Breast Biopsy (ultrasound-guided, percutaneous) at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$8,975.60
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$11,219.50
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$138.08 with Aetna vs $1,649.27 with Medica Exchange Insure — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | $138.08 | ↓ -98% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $140.84 | ↓ -98% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $140.84 | ↓ -98% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $144.98 | ↓ -98% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $144.98 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $144.98 | ↓ -98% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $268.60 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $268.60 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $316.00 | ↓ -96% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $324.44 | ↓ -96% |
| Aetna | HMO | $368.58 | ↓ -96% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $369.22 | ↓ -96% |
| Aetna | PPO | $448.99 | ↓ -95% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $501.61 | ↓ -94% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $501.61 | ↓ -94% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $1,469.75 | ↓ -84% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $1,561.02 | ↓ -83% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $1,561.02 | ↓ -83% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $1,649.27 | ↓ -82% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Breast Biopsy (ultrasound-guided, percutaneous) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $8,434.93 | $41.64 – $5,398.00 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $3,995.30 | $138.08 – $1,342.97 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $2,764.80 | $1,550.93 – $1,996.80 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $3,117.40 | $138.08 – $3,300.04 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $4,037.80 | $138.08 – $4,141.00 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $8,098.00 | $138.08 – $5,398.00 |
| MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center | Mason City | $5,356.00 | $138.08 – $5,493.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $3,193.80 | $1,550.93 – $2,171.30 |