Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center
210 Fourth Ave, Grinnell, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1669420501
$1,532.80
Cash price 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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$1,916.00
Gross charge 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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$98.09 with Aetna vs $743.61 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 →
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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 ?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 ?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 | $98.09 | ↓ -94% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $100.05 | ↓ -93% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $100.05 | ↓ -93% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $102.99 | ↓ -93% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $102.99 | ↓ -93% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $102.99 | ↓ -93% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $197.80 | ↓ -87% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $197.80 | ↓ -87% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $223.20 | ↓ -85% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $232.70 | ↓ -85% |
| Aetna | HMO | $251.98 | ↓ -84% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $261.95 | ↓ -83% |
| Aetna | PPO | $306.92 | ↓ -80% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $357.14 | ↓ -77% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $357.14 | ↓ -77% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $615.15 | ↓ -60% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $615.15 | ↓ -60% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $664.26 | ↓ -57% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $743.61 | ↓ -51% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,047.60 | $591.81 – $692.90 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $3,263.00 | $562.78 – $3,346.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $1,748.50 | $88.35 – $1,017.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $1,898.00 | $8.69 – $1,947.00 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $5,530.00 | $8.69 – $3,687.00 |
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $5,846.00 | $8.69 – $3,687.00 |
| MercyOne Centerville Medical Center | Centerville | $2,690.00 | $492.00 – $1,793.00 |
| MercyOne Newton Medical Center | Newton | $1,748.50 | $593.78 – $1,793.00 |