Biopsy needle lymph node superficial at UnityPoint Health - Trinity Muscatine

1518 Mulberry, Muscatine, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1861444333

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

$979.17

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.

$1,223.96

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.

$77.42 with Blue Cross and Blue Shield vs $1,399.30 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
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $77.42 ↓ -92%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $77.42 ↓ -92%
Ambetter HMO $77.42 ↓ -92%
Health Alliance Medicare Advantage $77.42 ↓ -92%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $78.97 ↓ -92%
Humana Medicare Advantage $81.29 ↓ -92%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $81.29 ↓ -92%
Meridian Health Plan Medicare Advantage $81.29 ↓ -92%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $135.50 ↓ -86%
BC Illinois Community PPO $152.83 ↓ -84%
Aetna HMO $159.49 ↓ -84%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $160.80 ↓ -84%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $160.80 ↓ -84%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $189.10 ↓ -81%
Aetna PPO $194.33 ↓ -80%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $206.12 ↓ -79%
United Healthcare PPO $221.46 ↓ -77%
United Healthcare HMO $221.46 ↓ -77%
BC Illinois Community Blue Choice $252.77 ↓ -74%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $447.97 ↓ -54%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $501.82 ↓ -49%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $1,399.30 ↑ +43%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $1,399.30 ↑ +43%

Visitor-reported prices

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Biopsy needle lymph node superficial at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $665.40 $576.55 – $1,550.93
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $1,561.30 $77.42 – $3,300.04
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $3,875.30 $77.42 – $3,974.00
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $2,226.90 $77.42 – $3,206.43
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Mason City $13,342.76 $77.42 – $8,370.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $768.60 $832.65 – $1,550.93
MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center Waterloo $4,282.85 $77.42 – $4,084.56
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $692.88 $77.42 – $1,342.97

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →