Heparin bolus from bag at Sanford Sheldon Medical Center
118 N 7th Ave, Sheldon, IA · Sanford Health · · NPI 1841200623
$97.79
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.
$122.23
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.
$21.58 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $68.16 with Multiplan — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $21.58 | ↓ -78% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $23.17 | ↓ -76% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $23.40 | ↓ -76% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $23.40 | ↓ -76% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Medicare Replacement | $23.40 | ↓ -76% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $23.40 | ↓ -76% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $23.40 | ↓ -76% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $23.85 | ↓ -76% |
| Wellmark | HMO | $37.87 | ↓ -61% |
| Wellmark | PPO | $39.38 | ↓ -60% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $40.58 | ↓ -59% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $40.58 | ↓ -59% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $41.65 | ↓ -57% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $47.73 | ↓ -51% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $47.73 | ↓ -51% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $49.98 | ↓ -49% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $56.80 | ↓ -42% |
| Medica | Choice | $62.48 | ↓ -36% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $63.23 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $65.81 | ↓ -33% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $66.54 | ↓ -32% |
| Medica | Elect | $66.79 | ↓ -32% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $68.16 | ↓ -30% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $68.16 | ↓ -30% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $68.16 | ↓ -30% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Heparin bolus from bag at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $84.16 | not published |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $80.00 | $2.20 – $6.90 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $45.00 | $5.50 – $19.15 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $80.00 | $2.20 – $7.77 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $22.50 | $2.64 – $6.90 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $75.00 | $2.20 – $9.75 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $38.75 | $5.50 – $20.02 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $45.00 | $1.39 – $6.90 |