Manipulation chest wall initial demonstration/evaluation 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

$162.87

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.

$203.58

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.

$22.15 with Aetna vs $124.19 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 $22.15 ↓ -86%
Molina Medicare Advantage $22.59 ↓ -86%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $22.59 ↓ -86%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $23.26 ↓ -86%
Humana Medicare Advantage $23.26 ↓ -86%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $23.26 ↓ -86%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $46.62 ↓ -71%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $47.90 ↓ -71%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $47.90 ↓ -71%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $53.34 ↓ -67%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $56.40 ↓ -65%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $57.51 ↓ -65%
Aetna HMO $57.63 ↓ -65%
United Healthcare PPO $59.71 ↓ -63%
United Healthcare HMO $59.71 ↓ -63%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $59.85 ↓ -63%
Aetna PPO $69.70 ↓ -57%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $124.19 ↓ -24%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $124.19 ↓ -24%

Visitor-reported prices

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Manipulation chest wall initial demonstration/evaluation at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $159.25 $49.25 – $258.30
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $129.00 $74.75 – $123.39
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $117.65 $64.62 – $265.84
MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center Dyersville $178.75 $103.95 – $309.54
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $220.35 $95.94 – $339.00
MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center Oelwein $178.75 $105.11 – $275.00
MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center Cedar Falls $104.00 $37.60 – $265.00
MercyOne Elkader Medical Center Elkader $178.75 $141.54 – $287.43

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →