healthcosts.net
Lumbar Spinal Fusion (single level) at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$3,842.40
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.
$4,803.00
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.
$1,386.72 with Aetna vs $17,717.92 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 →
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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 | $1,386.72 | ↓ -64% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $1,414.45 | ↓ -63% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $1,414.45 | ↓ -63% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $1,456.06 | ↓ -62% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $1,456.06 | ↓ -62% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $1,456.06 | ↓ -62% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $2,999.82 | ↓ -22% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $3,082.30 | ↓ -20% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $3,082.30 | ↓ -20% |
| Aetna | HMO | $3,577.21 | ↓ -7% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $3,626.30 | ↓ -6% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $3,697.02 | ↓ -4% |
| Aetna | PPO | $4,353.23 | ↑ +13% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $4,802.90 | ↑ +25% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $4,802.90 | ↑ +25% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $17,717.92 | ↑ +361% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $17,717.92 | ↑ +361% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lumbar Spinal Fusion (single level) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $3,842.40 | $1,386.72 – $15,243.06 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $2,852.40 | not published |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $2,995.20 | not published |
| MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center | DeWitt | $2,995.20 | $928.00 – $3,644.16 |
| UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital | Dubuque | $3,842.40 | $1,386.72 – $16,169.07 |
| UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center | Grinnell | $3,842.40 | $1,386.72 – $18,297.44 |
| UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center | Anamosa | $3,842.40 | $1,386.72 – $3,697.02 |
| UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown | Marshalltown | $3,842.40 | $1,386.72 – $17,895.28 |