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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at UnityPoint Health - Trinity Regional Medical Center
802 Kenyon Road, Fort Dodge, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1487759858
$2,398.52
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.
$2,998.14
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.
$43.57 with Aetna vs $2,548.42 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 →
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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 | $43.57 | ↓ -98% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $44.44 | ↓ -98% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $45.75 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $45.75 | ↓ -98% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $63.77 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $63.77 | ↓ -97% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $89.80 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $89.80 | ↓ -96% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $90.64 | ↓ -96% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $90.64 | ↓ -96% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $92.32 | ↓ -96% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $100.34 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $105.70 | ↓ -96% |
| Aetna | HMO | $112.58 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | PPO | $130.01 | ↓ -95% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $1,388.14 | ↓ -42% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $2,548.42 | ↑ +6% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) CT scan (without contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital | Des Moines | $2,427.55 | $43.57 – $892.12 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $841.89 | $43.57 – $554.59 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,258.80 | $101.79 – $142.51 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $1,507.35 | $93.79 – $2,319.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $1,517.10 | $924.03 – $2,334.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $2,057.25 | $96.27 – $3,165.00 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $1,517.10 | $882.25 – $2,627.15 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $1,517.10 | $892.05 – $2,334.00 |