Lung perfusion imaging 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

$1,303.10

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.

$1,628.87

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.

$31.91 with Aetna vs $478.89 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 →

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 $31.91 ↓ -98%
Molina Medicare Advantage $32.55 ↓ -98%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $32.55 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $33.51 ↓ -97%
Humana Medicare Advantage $33.51 ↓ -97%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $33.51 ↓ -97%
United Healthcare HMO $46.46 ↓ -96%
United Healthcare PPO $46.46 ↓ -96%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $58.80 ↓ -95%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $58.80 ↓ -95%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $67.20 ↓ -95%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $69.20 ↓ -95%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $72.33 ↓ -94%
Aetna HMO $81.76 ↓ -94%
Aetna PPO $93.81 ↓ -93%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $387.14 ↓ -70%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $387.14 ↓ -70%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $426.76 ↓ -67%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $478.89 ↓ -63%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lung perfusion imaging at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $942.50 $291.45 – $1,450.00
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $1,290.90 $368.14 – $1,986.00
MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center West Des Moines $1,924.00 $377.34 – $1,924.00
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Mason City $805.35 $317.18 – $1,239.00
MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center Waterloo $919.75 $332.53 – $1,415.00
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $520.80 $31.91 – $333.07
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $785.65 $31.91 – $785.65
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $1,205.68 $31.91 – $607.36

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →