Dstr mal ls f/e/e/n/l/m3.1-4 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

$688.00

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.

$860.00

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.

$181.18 with Aetna vs $635.40 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
Aetna Medicare Advantage $181.18 ↓ -74%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $184.80 ↓ -73%
Molina Medicare Advantage $184.80 ↓ -73%
Humana Medicare Advantage $190.24 ↓ -72%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $190.24 ↓ -72%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $190.24 ↓ -72%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $355.70 ↓ -48%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $355.70 ↓ -48%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $388.93 ↓ -43%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $418.50 ↓ -39%
Aetna HMO $463.73 ↓ -33%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $480.50 ↓ -30%
Aetna PPO $565.60 ↓ -18%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $589.75 ↓ -14%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $589.75 ↓ -14%
United Healthcare PPO $635.40 ↓ -8%
United Healthcare HMO $635.40 ↓ -8%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial not published by hospital
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Dstr mal ls f/e/e/n/l/m3.1-4 at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $688.00 $181.18 – $507.38
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $688.00 $181.18 – $791.20
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $688.00 $181.18 – $609.05
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $688.00 $181.18 – $480.50
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown $688.00 $181.18 – $595.66
UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown Sioux City $688.00 $181.18 – $542.11
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Bettendorf $688.00 $181.18 – $526.74
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Muscatine Muscatine $688.00 $181.18 – $528.66

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →