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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with and without contrast) at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$3,071.44
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.
$3,839.29
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.
$55.26 with Aetna vs $1,128.75 with Medica Exchange Insure — 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 | $55.26 | ↓ -98% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $56.37 | ↓ -98% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $56.37 | ↓ -98% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $58.02 | ↓ -98% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $58.02 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $58.02 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $80.49 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $80.49 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $114.20 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $114.20 | ↓ -96% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $117.16 | ↓ -96% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $123.17 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $134.40 | ↓ -96% |
| Aetna | HMO | $143.41 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | PPO | $164.83 | ↓ -95% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $171.51 | ↓ -94% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $171.51 | ↓ -94% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $1,005.89 | ↓ -67% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $1,128.75 | ↓ -63% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (with and without contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $3,981.90 | $165.56 – $6,126.00 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $1,106.33 | $55.26 – $728.79 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,818.60 | $170.40 – $238.57 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $1,717.95 | $157.36 – $2,643.00 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $1,976.65 | $165.25 – $3,041.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $1,909.80 | $170.40 – $238.57 |
| MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center | DeWitt | $1,909.80 | $1,082.22 – $2,323.59 |
| UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital | Dubuque | $1,707.72 | $55.26 – $1,707.71 |