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Neck (Cervical Spine) CT scan (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

$2,396.27

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.

$2,995.33

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.

$43.57 with Aetna vs $2,546.03 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 $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 $105.57 ↓ -96%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $105.70 ↓ -96%
Aetna HMO $120.63 ↓ -95%
Aetna PPO $138.05 ↓ -94%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $1,386.84 ↓ -42%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $2,546.03 ↑ +6%

Visitor-reported prices

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

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $2,794.80 $43.57 – $1,027.09
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $1,084.84 $43.57 – $714.63
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $1,278.00 $101.79 – $142.51
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $1,955.20 $93.79 – $3,008.00
MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center New Hampton $1,506.05 $917.30 – $2,317.00
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $2,034.50 $96.27 – $3,130.00
MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center Dyersville $1,506.05 $875.83 – $2,608.02
MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center Oelwein $1,506.05 $885.56 – $2,317.00

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →