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Chest CT scan (without contrast) 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

$1,263.48

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.

$1,579.35

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.

$47.19 with Aetna vs $636.48 with Medica Exchange Insure — 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 $47.19 ↓ -96%
Molina Medicare Advantage $48.13 ↓ -96%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $48.13 ↓ -96%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $49.55 ↓ -96%
Humana Medicare Advantage $49.55 ↓ -96%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $49.55 ↓ -96%
United Healthcare HMO $73.84 ↓ -94%
United Healthcare PPO $73.84 ↓ -94%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $97.50 ↓ -92%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $97.50 ↓ -92%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $100.00 ↓ -92%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $102.08 ↓ -92%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $105.81 ↓ -92%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $105.81 ↓ -92%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $114.80 ↓ -91%
Aetna HMO $115.26 ↓ -91%
Aetna PPO $132.69 ↓ -89%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $568.57 ↓ -55%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $636.48 ↓ -50%

Visitor-reported prices

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Chest CT scan (without contrast) at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $2,078.63 $47.19 – $763.89
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $869.92 $47.19 – $573.05
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $1,019.40 $101.79 – $142.51
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $1,783.60 $93.79 – $2,744.00
MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center Dyersville $1,441.70 $838.40 – $2,496.58
MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center New Hampton $1,441.70 $878.11 – $2,218.00
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $1,877.20 $96.27 – $2,888.00
MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center Oelwein $1,441.70 $847.72 – $2,218.00

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →