Core ndl bx lng/med perq at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$3,037.76
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.
$3,797.20
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.
$136.53 with Aetna vs $3,724.93 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 | $136.53 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $139.26 | ↓ -95% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $139.26 | ↓ -95% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $143.36 | ↓ -95% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $143.36 | ↓ -95% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $143.36 | ↓ -95% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $275.50 | ↓ -91% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $275.50 | ↓ -91% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $285.30 | ↓ -91% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $324.10 | ↓ -89% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $364.67 | ↓ -88% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $491.97 | ↓ -84% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $491.97 | ↓ -84% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $994.87 | ↓ -67% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $1,116.38 | ↓ -63% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $1,561.02 | ↓ -49% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $1,561.02 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | HMO | $3,252.50 | ↑ +7% |
| Aetna | PPO | $3,724.93 | ↑ +23% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Core ndl bx lng/med perq at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $7,087.13 | $41.64 – $3,206.43 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $2,532.00 | $947.70 – $1,550.93 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $1,598.35 | $877.86 – $3,300.04 |
| MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center | Mason City | $7,044.04 | $91.55 – $3,578.15 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $2,925.00 | $1,095.25 – $1,550.93 |
| MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center | Waterloo | $13,181.34 | $244.52 – $4,445.40 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $2,862.11 | $136.53 – $1,885.41 |
| UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital | Dubuque | $2,938.49 | $136.53 – $2,938.49 |