Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at Sanford Sheldon Medical Center
118 N 7th Ave, Sheldon, IA · Sanford Health · · NPI 1841200623
$1,886.40
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.
$2,358.00
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.
$672.03 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $2,122.20 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 | $672.03 | ↓ -64% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $721.55 | ↓ -62% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $728.62 | ↓ -61% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $728.62 | ↓ -61% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Medicare Replacement | $728.62 | ↓ -61% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $728.62 | ↓ -61% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $728.62 | ↓ -61% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $742.77 | ↓ -61% |
| Wellmark | HMO | $1,179.00 | ↓ -38% |
| Wellmark | PPO | $1,226.16 | ↓ -35% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $1,263.42 | ↓ -33% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $1,263.42 | ↓ -33% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $1,296.90 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $1,486.25 | ↓ -21% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $1,486.25 | ↓ -21% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $1,556.28 | ↓ -18% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $1,768.50 | ↓ -6% |
| Medica | Choice | $1,945.35 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $1,968.93 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $2,049.10 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $2,071.74 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Elect | $2,079.76 | ↑ +10% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $2,122.20 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $2,122.20 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $2,122.20 | ↑ +13% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Thoracentesis pleural space needle/catheter aspiration with imaging guidance (both sides) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,047.60 | $591.81 – $692.90 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $3,263.00 | $562.78 – $3,346.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $1,748.50 | $88.35 – $1,017.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $1,898.00 | $8.69 – $1,947.00 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $5,530.00 | $8.69 – $3,687.00 |
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $5,846.00 | $8.69 – $3,687.00 |
| MercyOne Centerville Medical Center | Centerville | $2,690.00 | $492.00 – $1,793.00 |
| MercyOne Newton Medical Center | Newton | $1,748.50 | $593.78 – $1,793.00 |