Biopsy arm/elbow soft tissue at UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center

210 Fourth Ave, Grinnell, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1669420501

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

$3,036.80

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.

$3,796.00

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.

$384.82 with Aetna vs $2,847.64 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 $384.82 ↓ -87%
Molina Medicare Advantage $392.52 ↓ -87%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $392.52 ↓ -87%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $404.06 ↓ -87%
Humana Medicare Advantage $404.06 ↓ -87%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $404.06 ↓ -87%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $767.48 ↓ -75%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $840.70 ↓ -72%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $840.70 ↓ -72%
Aetna HMO $923.46 ↓ -70%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $989.00 ↓ -67%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $1,017.65 ↓ -66%
Aetna PPO $1,123.16 ↓ -63%
United Healthcare PPO $1,270.38 ↓ -58%
United Healthcare HMO $1,270.38 ↓ -58%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $2,847.64 ↓ -6%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $2,847.64 ↓ -6%
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Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Biopsy arm/elbow soft tissue at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $3,036.80 $384.82 – $2,372.28
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $3,036.80 $384.82 – $2,516.40
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $3,036.80 $384.82 – $2,757.44
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $3,036.80 $384.82 – $1,017.65
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown $3,036.80 $384.82 – $2,785.05
UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown Sioux City $3,036.80 $384.82 – $2,534.69
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Bettendorf $3,036.80 $384.82 – $2,462.80
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Muscatine Muscatine $3,036.80 $384.82 – $2,471.78

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →