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Sinus CT scan (with contrast) at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$2,332.52
Cash price 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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,915.65
Gross charge 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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$49.40 with Aetna vs $857.20 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 →
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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 ?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 ?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 | $49.40 | ↓ -98% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $50.39 | ↓ -98% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $50.39 | ↓ -98% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $51.87 | ↓ -98% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $51.87 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $51.87 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $72.00 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $72.00 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $102.00 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $102.00 | ↓ -96% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $104.08 | ↓ -96% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $113.40 | ↓ -95% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $120.00 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | HMO | $127.32 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | PPO | $146.08 | ↓ -94% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $171.51 | ↓ -93% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $171.51 | ↓ -93% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $763.90 | ↓ -67% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $857.20 | ↓ -63% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Sinus CT scan (with contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $2,146.95 | $165.56 – $3,303.00 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $1,111.00 | $49.40 – $731.87 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,195.20 | $170.40 – $238.57 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $1,660.10 | $157.36 – $2,554.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $2,102.10 | $1,280.34 – $3,234.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $1,847.30 | $161.52 – $2,842.00 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $2,102.10 | $1,222.45 – $3,640.19 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $2,102.10 | $1,236.03 – $3,234.00 |