Abdominal paracentesis w/image guidance at UnityPoint Health - Trinity Regional Medical Center

802 Kenyon Road, Fort Dodge, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1487759858

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Jan 28, 2026 · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$739.20

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.

$924.00

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.

$95.71 with Aetna vs $799.09 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 $95.71 ↓ -87%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $97.62 ↓ -87%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $100.50 ↓ -86%
Humana Medicare Advantage $100.50 ↓ -86%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $202.20 ↓ -73%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $202.20 ↓ -73%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $215.33 ↓ -71%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $237.80 ↓ -68%
Aetna HMO $243.92 ↓ -67%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $254.37 ↓ -66%
Aetna PPO $297.54 ↓ -60%
United Healthcare HMO $343.04 ↓ -54%
United Healthcare PPO $343.04 ↓ -54%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $374.86 ↓ -49%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $688.19 ↓ -7%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $799.09 ↑ +8%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $799.09 ↑ +8%

Visitor-reported prices

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Abdominal paracentesis w/image guidance at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $912.60 $897.45 – $988.65
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $1,042.60 $572.63 – $1,812.24
MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center New Hampton $391.00 $29.61 – $225.00
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $1,661.13 $663.07 – $2,343.00
MercyOne Elkader Medical Center Elkader $1,333.80 $1,056.16 – $2,144.75
MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center West Des Moines $10,246.00 $29.61 – $10,246.00
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $6,659.90 $29.61 – $10,246.00
MercyOne Centerville Medical Center Centerville $2,052.00 $563.07 – $2,052.00

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →