Lumbar diskogram s&i 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

$2,949.15

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.

$3,686.43

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.

$36.59 with Ambetter vs $1,686.50 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
Ambetter HMO $36.59 ↓ -99%
Health Alliance Medicare Advantage $36.59 ↓ -99%
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $36.59 ↓ -99%
Aetna Medicare Advantage $36.59 ↓ -99%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $37.32 ↓ -99%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $38.42 ↓ -99%
Humana Medicare Advantage $38.42 ↓ -99%
Meridian Health Plan Medicare Advantage $38.42 ↓ -99%
United Healthcare PPO $54.07 ↓ -98%
United Healthcare HMO $54.07 ↓ -98%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $67.40 ↓ -98%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $67.40 ↓ -98%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $77.15 ↓ -97%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $78.42 ↓ -97%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $79.30 ↓ -97%
Aetna HMO $91.14 ↓ -97%
BC Illinois Community PPO $91.81 ↓ -97%
Aetna PPO $104.54 ↓ -96%
BC Illinois Community Blue Choice $209.15 ↓ -93%
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial $1,349.23 ↓ -54%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial $1,511.44 ↓ -49%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $1,686.50 ↓ -43%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $1,686.50 ↓ -43%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lumbar diskogram s&i at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $1,986.60 $1,749.80 – $1,869.23
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Mason City $6,646.90 $1,889.45 – $10,226.00
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $2,169.60 $1,869.23 – $2,350.40
UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital Waterloo $2,212.64 $36.59 – $1,618.61
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $2,881.65 $36.59 – $2,881.65
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $318.40 $36.59 – $1,942.94
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $2,942.49 $36.59 – $1,881.40
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $318.40 $36.59 – $78.42

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →