Platelets each unit 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

$302.84

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.

$378.55

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.

$73.19 with Iowa Total Care vs $184.86 with United Healthcare — 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
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $73.19 ↓ -76%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $73.19 ↓ -76%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $75.96 ↓ -75%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $75.96 ↓ -75%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $75.96 ↓ -75%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $77.48 ↓ -74%
Molina Medicare Advantage $77.48 ↓ -74%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $77.48 ↓ -74%
Humana Medicare Advantage $79.76 ↓ -74%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $79.76 ↓ -74%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $79.76 ↓ -74%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $98.19 ↓ -68%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $99.18 ↓ -67%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $111.29 ↓ -63%
Aetna HMO $152.49 ↓ -50%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $163.91 ↓ -46%
Aetna PPO $174.64 ↓ -42%
United Healthcare PPO $184.86 ↓ -39%
United Healthcare HMO $184.86 ↓ -39%

Visitor-reported prices

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Platelets each unit at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $100.80 $72.71 – $101.79
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $112.20 $72.71 – $101.79
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $302.84 $62.96 – $244.92
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $302.84 $66.79 – $302.84
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $302.84 $75.58 – $236.22
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $302.84 $75.96 – $335.77
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown $302.84 $73.92 – $302.08
UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown Sioux City $302.84 $67.27 – $246.06

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →