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Neck (Cervical Spine) CT scan (with and without 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

$2,920.60

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.

$3,650.75

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.

$55.26 with Aetna vs $3,103.14 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 $55.26 ↓ -98%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $56.37 ↓ -98%
Humana Medicare Advantage $58.02 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $58.02 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare HMO $80.92 ↓ -97%
United Healthcare PPO $80.92 ↓ -97%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $114.20 ↓ -96%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $114.20 ↓ -96%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $117.16 ↓ -96%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $122.29 ↓ -96%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $134.40 ↓ -95%
Aetna HMO $142.07 ↓ -95%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $151.73 ↓ -95%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $151.73 ↓ -95%
Aetna PPO $163.51 ↓ -94%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $1,690.30 ↓ -42%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $3,103.14 ↑ +6%

Visitor-reported prices

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Neck (Cervical Spine) CT scan (with and without contrast) at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $2,921.09 $55.26 – $1,073.50
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $1,214.71 $55.26 – $800.19
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $3,842.80 $165.56 – $5,912.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $1,737.60 $170.40 – $238.57
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $1,478.10 $157.36 – $2,274.00
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Mason City $2,432.30 $169.72 – $3,742.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $1,952.40 $170.40 – $238.57
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center DeWitt $1,952.40 $1,106.36 – $2,375.42

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →