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ER Visit (level 5, high severity) 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

$1,508.39

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.

$1,885.48

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.

$12.65 with Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield vs $529.50 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
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $12.65 ↓ -99%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $12.65 ↓ -99%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $12.65 ↓ -99%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $15.18 ↓ -99%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $20.13 ↓ -99%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $22.55 ↓ -99%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $30.09 ↓ -98%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $159.07 ↓ -89%
Ambetter HMO $159.07 ↓ -89%
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $159.07 ↓ -89%
Health Alliance Medicare Advantage $159.07 ↓ -89%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $162.25 ↓ -89%
Humana Medicare Advantage $167.02 ↓ -89%
Meridian Health Plan Medicare Advantage $167.02 ↓ -89%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $167.02 ↓ -89%
BC Illinois Community Blue Choice $191.26 ↓ -87%
BC Illinois Community PPO $227.69 ↓ -85%
Aetna HMO $341.78 ↓ -77%
Aetna PPO $341.78 ↓ -77%
United Healthcare HMO $386.61 ↓ -74%
United Healthcare PPO $386.61 ↓ -74%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $529.50 ↓ -65%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $529.50 ↓ -65%

Visitor-reported prices

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ER Visit (level 5, high severity) at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $2,811.57 $14.41 – $590.69
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $1,407.20 $25.91 – $508.18
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $744.60 $586.87 – $660.40
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center Dubuque $5,830.99 $9.09 – $3,385.00
MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center New Hampton $5,452.20 $9.09 – $862.00
MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center Dyersville $5,155.41 $2.80 – $970.27
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Clinton $4,744.80 $9.09 – $2,133.00
MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center Oelwein $5,874.00 $6.50 – $862.00

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →