Observation per hour at Sanford Sheldon Medical Center
118 N 7th Ave, Sheldon, IA · Sanford Health · · NPI 1841200623
$72.80
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.
$91.00
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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$25.94 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $81.90 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 | $25.94 | ↓ -64% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $27.85 | ↓ -62% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $28.12 | ↓ -61% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $28.12 | ↓ -61% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Medicare Replacement | $28.12 | ↓ -61% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $28.12 | ↓ -61% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $28.12 | ↓ -61% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $28.67 | ↓ -61% |
| Wellmark | HMO | $45.50 | ↓ -38% |
| Wellmark | PPO | $47.32 | ↓ -35% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $48.76 | ↓ -33% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $48.76 | ↓ -33% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $50.05 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $57.36 | ↓ -21% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $57.36 | ↓ -21% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $60.06 | ↓ -18% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $68.25 | ↓ -6% |
| Medica | Choice | $75.08 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $75.99 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $79.08 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $79.95 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Elect | $80.26 | ↑ +10% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $81.90 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $81.90 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $81.90 | ↑ +13% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Observation per hour at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $78.65 | $42.76 – $108.00 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $70.20 | $40.82 – $121.56 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $133.90 | $30.00 – $3,077.00 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $97.50 | $41.28 – $108.00 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $76.70 | $8.46 – $6,171.00 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $78.65 | $55.59 – $112.88 |
| MercyOne Centerville Medical Center | Centerville | $150.00 | $29.64 – $108.00 |
| MercyOne Newton Medical Center | Newton | $97.50 | $70.20 – $108.00 |