Unlisted px tongue flr mouth 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

$208.00

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.

$260.00

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.

$66.88 with Medica Exchange Inspire vs $565.13 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
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $66.88 ↓ -68%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $75.05 ↓ -64%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $110.53 ↓ -47%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $221.08 ↑ +6%
Molina Medicare Advantage $221.08 ↑ +6%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $221.08 ↑ +6%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $223.74 ↑ +8%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $223.74 ↑ +8%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $227.58 ↑ +9%
Humana Medicare Advantage $227.58 ↑ +9%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $227.58 ↑ +9%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $300.17 ↑ +44%
Aetna HMO $466.17 ↑ +124%
Aetna PPO $533.88 ↑ +157%
United Healthcare PPO $565.13 ↑ +172%
United Healthcare HMO $565.13 ↑ +172%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO not published by hospital
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial not published by hospital
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Unlisted px tongue flr mouth at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $2,335.97 $192.48 – $1,889.21
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $208.00 $204.18 – $424.06
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $208.00 $221.08 – $231.05
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $208.00 not published
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown $2,335.97 $218.39 – $2,330.13
UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown Sioux City $451.08 $67.60 – $366.50
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Bettendorf $2,426.09 $199.83 – $1,598.19
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Muscatine Muscatine $2,426.09 $200.56 – $3,072.30

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →