Lung function test (mbc/mvv) 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

$140.66

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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$175.82

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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$2.36 with Aetna vs $57.22 with Amerigroup — same scan, same building. Share

Negotiated rates by payer
?

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 $2.36 ↓ -98%
Molina Medicare Advantage $2.41 ↓ -98%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $2.41 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $2.48 ↓ -98%
Humana Medicare Advantage $2.48 ↓ -98%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $2.48 ↓ -98%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $5.00 ↓ -96%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $5.00 ↓ -96%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $5.90 ↓ -96%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $6.19 ↓ -96%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $10.31 ↓ -93%
United Healthcare PPO $11.25 ↓ -92%
United Healthcare HMO $11.25 ↓ -92%
Aetna HMO $12.08 ↓ -91%
Aetna PPO $14.75 ↓ -90%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $46.06 ↓ -67%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $51.69 ↓ -63%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $57.22 ↓ -59%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $57.22 ↓ -59%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
Report what you paid sign in to post

Comments

Add a comment sign in to post

Lung function test (mbc/mvv) at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $1,444.00 $1.25 – $336.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $96.00 $56.86 – $79.60
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $107.40 $56.86 – $79.60
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center DeWitt $107.40 $14.60 – $60.86
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $110.56 $2.36 – $72.83
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $99.12 $2.36 – $99.11
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $148.03 $2.36 – $74.57
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $165.72 $2.36 – $183.74

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →