healthcosts.net
Tonsillectomy (age 12+) at UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital
1200 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1356433049
$622.40
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.
$778.00
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.
$233.28 with Aetna vs $3,124.54 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 →
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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 | $233.28 | ↓ -63% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $237.95 | ↓ -62% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $237.95 | ↓ -62% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $244.94 | ↓ -61% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $244.94 | ↓ -61% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $244.94 | ↓ -61% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $474.45 | ↓ -24% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $501.80 | ↓ -19% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $501.80 | ↓ -19% |
| Aetna | HMO | $562.91 | ↓ -10% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $590.40 | ↓ -5% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $622.62 | ↑ +0% |
| Aetna | PPO | $684.88 | ↑ +10% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $777.66 | ↑ +25% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $777.66 | ↑ +25% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $3,124.54 | ↑ +402% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $3,124.54 | ↑ +402% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Tonsillectomy (age 12+) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $16,898.61 | $0.96 – $6,436.67 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $8,241.49 | $0.96 – $4.55 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $622.40 | $233.28 – $2,688.10 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $475.20 | not published |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $17,075.62 | $0.96 – $6,624.59 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $17,181.09 | $0.96 – $7,094.93 |
| MercyOne Centerville Medical Center | Centerville | $19,312.60 | $0.96 – $1,035.00 |
| MercyOne Newton Medical Center | Newton | $10,688.01 | $2.88 – $6,436.67 |