Removal embedded foreign body vestibule mouth smpl 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

$662.49

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.

$828.11

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.

$107.17 with Aetna vs $903.29 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 $107.17 ↓ -84%
Molina Medicare Advantage $109.31 ↓ -84%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $109.31 ↓ -84%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $112.53 ↓ -83%
Humana Medicare Advantage $112.53 ↓ -83%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $112.53 ↓ -83%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $216.96 ↓ -67%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $230.40 ↓ -65%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $230.40 ↓ -65%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $243.46 ↓ -63%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $246.23 ↓ -63%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $271.00 ↓ -59%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $276.40 ↓ -58%
Aetna HMO $296.20 ↓ -55%
Aetna PPO $360.55 ↓ -46%
United Healthcare PPO $365.21 ↓ -45%
United Healthcare HMO $365.21 ↓ -45%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $903.29 ↑ +36%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $903.29 ↑ +36%

Visitor-reported prices

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Removal embedded foreign body vestibule mouth smpl at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $398.40 not published
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $418.20 not published
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center DeWitt $418.20 $508.81 – $2,679.00
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $1,811.55 $107.17 – $1,193.35
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $483.20 $107.17 – $824.33
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $483.20 $107.17 – $932.84
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $483.20 $107.17 – $276.40
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown $1,811.55 $107.17 – $1,086.93

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →