Tilt table study at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$1,860.47
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.
$2,325.58
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.
$65.71 with Aetna vs $683.72 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 | $65.71 | ↓ -96% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $67.02 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $67.02 | ↓ -96% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $69.00 | ↓ -96% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $69.00 | ↓ -96% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $69.00 | ↓ -96% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $123.64 | ↓ -93% |
| Aetna | HMO | $138.05 | ↓ -93% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $149.50 | ↓ -92% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $149.50 | ↓ -92% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $168.14 | ↓ -91% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $168.14 | ↓ -91% |
| Aetna | PPO | $168.87 | ↓ -91% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $169.05 | ↓ -91% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $175.80 | ↓ -91% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $511.21 | ↓ -73% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $511.21 | ↓ -73% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $609.30 | ↓ -67% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $683.72 | ↓ -63% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Tilt table study at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,203.00 | $507.90 – $711.06 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $1,478.75 | $343.62 – $2,275.00 |
| MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center | Mason City | $1,937.00 | $361.06 – $2,980.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $1,339.20 | $507.90 – $711.06 |
| MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center | DeWitt | $1,339.20 | $758.88 – $1,629.36 |
| MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center | Waterloo | $727.73 | $28.65 – $776.74 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $3,175.92 | $65.71 – $2,092.13 |
| UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital | Dubuque | $362.40 | $65.71 – $466.52 |