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Nuclear rx intra-articular 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

$297.60

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.

$372.00

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.

$34.85 with Aetna vs $215.93 with Amerigroup — 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 $34.85 ↓ -88%
Molina Medicare Advantage $35.55 ↓ -88%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $35.55 ↓ -88%
Humana Medicare Advantage $36.59 ↓ -88%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $36.59 ↓ -88%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $36.59 ↓ -88%
United Healthcare HMO $47.28 ↓ -84%
United Healthcare PPO $47.28 ↓ -84%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $67.90 ↓ -77%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $67.90 ↓ -77%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $72.96 ↓ -75%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $74.09 ↓ -75%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $79.90 ↓ -73%
Aetna HMO $87.13 ↓ -71%
Aetna PPO $105.87 ↓ -64%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $215.93 ↓ -27%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $215.93 ↓ -27%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial not published by hospital
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Nuclear rx intra-articular at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $297.60 $34.85 – $185.77
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $297.60 $34.85 – $197.06
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $297.60 $34.85 – $223.00
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $297.60 $34.85 – $74.09
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown $297.60 $34.85 – $218.10
UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown Sioux City $297.60 $30.94 – $198.49
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Bettendorf $297.60 $34.85 – $192.86
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Muscatine Muscatine $297.60 $34.85 – $193.56

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →