healthcosts.net
Knee MRI (with contrast) at UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown
2720 Stone Park Blvd, Sioux City, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1962594622
$1,697.44
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.
$2,121.80
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.
$62.66 with Nebraska Total Care vs $1,226.40 with Medica Exchange Insure — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $62.66 | ↓ -96% |
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $71.16 | ↓ -96% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $72.58 | ↓ -96% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $72.58 | ↓ -96% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $74.72 | ↓ -96% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $74.72 | ↓ -96% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $74.72 | ↓ -96% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $103.93 | ↓ -94% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $103.93 | ↓ -94% |
| Avera Health Plan | Commercial | $106.74 | ↓ -94% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $150.32 | ↓ -91% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $157.35 | ↓ -91% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $170.50 | ↓ -90% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $170.50 | ↓ -90% |
| Aetna | HMO | $183.61 | ↓ -89% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $200.60 | ↓ -88% |
| Aetna | PPO | $211.78 | ↓ -88% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $699.69 | ↓ -59% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $699.69 | ↓ -59% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $1,094.85 | ↓ -35% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $1,226.40 | ↓ -28% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Knee MRI (with contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital | Des Moines | $3,611.28 | $71.16 – $1,327.15 |
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $3,518.47 | $71.16 – $2,317.79 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $8,893.95 | $738.54 – $9,121.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $1,818.00 | $756.26 – $1,058.77 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $2,260.70 | $298.64 – $2,318.00 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $7,995.00 | $311.07 – $5,330.00 |
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $5,196.75 | $739.93 – $5,330.00 |
| MercyOne Centerville Medical Center | Centerville | $7,893.00 | $1,443.89 – $5,262.00 |