Biopsy thigh soft tissues 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

$1,974.40

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.

$2,468.00

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.

$371.84 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 $371.84 ↓ -81%
Molina Medicare Advantage $379.28 ↓ -81%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $379.28 ↓ -81%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $390.43 ↓ -80%
Humana Medicare Advantage $390.43 ↓ -80%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $390.43 ↓ -80%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $733.28 ↓ -63%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $813.10 ↓ -59%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $813.10 ↓ -59%
Aetna HMO $880.57 ↓ -55%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $956.60 ↓ -52%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $986.41 ↓ -50%
Aetna PPO $1,070.89 ↓ -46%
United Healthcare PPO $1,233.47 ↓ -38%
United Healthcare HMO $1,233.47 ↓ -38%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $2,847.64 ↑ +44%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $2,847.64 ↑ +44%
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Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Biopsy thigh soft tissues at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center West Des Moines $1,412.00 $128.34 – $931.00
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $1,974.40 $371.84 – $2,372.28
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $1,974.40 $371.84 – $2,516.40
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $1,974.40 $371.84 – $2,757.44
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $1,974.40 $371.84 – $986.41
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Marshalltown $1,974.40 $371.84 – $2,785.05
UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown Sioux City $1,974.40 $320.84 – $2,534.69
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Bettendorf $1,974.40 $371.84 – $2,462.80

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →