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Brain MRA (blood vessel MRI, with contrast) 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

$3,535.24

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.

$4,419.05

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.

$52.25 with Aetna vs $3,756.19 with Medica Exchange Inspire — 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 $52.25 ↓ -99%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $53.30 ↓ -98%
Humana Medicare Advantage $54.86 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $54.86 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare HMO $76.35 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare PPO $76.35 ↓ -98%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $110.78 ↓ -97%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $114.98 ↓ -97%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $125.10 ↓ -96%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $125.10 ↓ -96%
Aetna HMO $134.03 ↓ -96%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $147.10 ↓ -96%
Aetna PPO $155.44 ↓ -96%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $304.39 ↓ -91%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $304.39 ↓ -91%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $2,046.02 ↓ -42%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $3,756.19 ↑ +6%

Visitor-reported prices

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Brain MRA (blood vessel MRI, with contrast) at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $3,275.01 $52.25 – $1,203.57
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $1,505.31 $52.25 – $991.62
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $1,732.20 $341.85 – $478.59
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Mason City $1,453.40 $337.57 – $2,236.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $1,891.80 $341.85 – $478.59
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center DeWitt $1,891.80 $1,072.02 – $2,301.69
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $906.40 $52.25 – $314.00
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $906.40 $52.25 – $355.33

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →