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Insert pessary/other device 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

$254.91

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.

$318.63

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.

$41.05 with Aetna vs $193.82 with Iowa Total Care — 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 $41.05 ↓ -84%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $41.87 ↓ -84%
Molina Medicare Advantage $41.87 ↓ -84%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $43.10 ↓ -83%
Humana Medicare Advantage $43.10 ↓ -83%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $43.10 ↓ -83%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $83.48 ↓ -67%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $87.00 ↓ -66%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $87.00 ↓ -66%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $88.78 ↓ -65%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $93.68 ↓ -63%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $102.40 ↓ -60%
Aetna HMO $104.54 ↓ -59%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $109.71 ↓ -57%
Aetna PPO $127.32 ↓ -50%
United Healthcare PPO $146.20 ↓ -43%
United Healthcare HMO $146.20 ↓ -43%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $193.82 ↓ -24%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $193.82 ↓ -24%

Visitor-reported prices

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Insert pessary/other device at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $98.00 $12.89 – $98.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $141.00 not published
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $137.00 $12.89 – $432.64
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Mason City $295.10 $14.70 – $454.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $148.20 not published
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center DeWitt $148.20 $180.31 – $2,679.00
MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center Waterloo $270.40 $12.89 – $390.65
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $345.38 $41.05 – $227.52

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →