healthcosts.net
Neck MRA (blood vessel MRI, with contrast) at Sanford Sheldon Medical Center
118 N 7th Ave, Sheldon, IA · Sanford Health · · NPI 1841200623
$2,907.20
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$3,634.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$1,035.69 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $3,270.60 with Multiplan — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | $1,035.69 | ↓ -64% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $1,112.00 | ↓ -62% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $1,122.91 | ↓ -61% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Medicare Replacement | $1,122.91 | ↓ -61% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $1,122.91 | ↓ -61% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $1,122.91 | ↓ -61% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $1,122.91 | ↓ -61% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $1,144.71 | ↓ -61% |
| Wellmark | HMO | $1,817.00 | ↓ -38% |
| Wellmark | PPO | $1,889.68 | ↓ -35% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $1,947.10 | ↓ -33% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $1,947.10 | ↓ -33% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $1,998.70 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $2,290.51 | ↓ -21% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $2,290.51 | ↓ -21% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $2,398.44 | ↓ -18% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $2,725.50 | ↓ -6% |
| Medica | Choice | $2,998.05 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $3,034.39 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $3,157.95 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $3,192.83 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Elect | $3,205.19 | ↑ +10% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $3,270.60 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $3,270.60 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $3,270.60 | ↑ +13% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Neck MRA (blood vessel MRI, with contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital | Des Moines | $3,510.04 | $65.50 – $1,289.94 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $1,374.48 | $65.50 – $905.44 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,615.20 | $341.85 – $478.59 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $3,542.00 | $329.29 – $3,542.00 |
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $2,302.30 | $329.29 – $3,542.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center | Davenport | $1,764.00 | $341.85 – $478.59 |
| MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center | DeWitt | $1,764.00 | $999.60 – $2,146.20 |
| UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital | Dubuque | $1,005.60 | $65.50 – $314.00 |