Crystal identification light microscopy at MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center
3421 W. 9th St, Waterloo, IA · MercyOne · · NPI 1700827896
$36.40
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$56.00
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.
$7.10 with IOWA TOTAL CARE vs $56.00 with UNITED HEALTHCARE — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IOWA TOTAL CARE | IOWA TOTAL CARE MEDICAID | $7.10 | ↓ -80% |
| MOLINA MEDICAID | MOLINA MEDICAID | $7.17 | ↓ -80% |
| AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $7.18 | ↓ -80% |
| MEDIGOLD MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | MERCYONE HEALTH PLAN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $7.18 | ↓ -80% |
| MEDICARE MEDICAL ASSOCIATES HEALTH PLANS | MEDICAL ASSOCIATES MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $7.18 | ↓ -80% |
| WELLPOINT MEDICAID | WELLPOINT MEDICAID | $7.20 | ↓ -80% |
| BLUE CROSS - IA (WELLMARK) MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | WELLMARK MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $7.26 | ↓ -80% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE MEDICARE | UNITED HEALTHCARE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $7.33 | ↓ -80% |
| GEHA | UNITED HEALTHCARE | $7.33 | ↓ -80% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE | UNITED HEALTHCARE | $7.33 | ↓ -80% |
| HEALTH PARTNERS MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | UNITYPOINT HEALTH PARTNERS MEDICARE ADV | $7.40 | ↓ -80% |
| WELLPOINT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | WELLPOINT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $7.48 | ↓ -79% |
| AMISH HOSPITAL AID | AMISH HOSPITAL AID | $9.75 | ↓ -73% |
| OSCAR | OSCAR | $11.25 | ↓ -69% |
| CENTIVO | CENTIVO | $12.17 | ↓ -67% |
| AMBETTER | AMBETTER MARKETPLACE | $12.31 | ↓ -66% |
| MEDICAL ASSOCIATES | MEDICAL ASSOCIATES | $13.16 | ↓ -64% |
| HEALTH CHOICES | MEDICAL ASSOCIATES | $13.16 | ↓ -64% |
| NOVA | CLAIMDOC | $14.73 | ↓ -60% |
| CLAIMDOC | CLAIMDOC | $14.73 | ↓ -60% |
| COVENTRY | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| ALLIED BENEFIT SYSTEMS | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| MERITAIN | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| FIRST HEALTH | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| ASR HEALTH BENEFITS | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| LUCENT HEALTH | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| AETNA DOMESTIC | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| AETNA | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| CHRISTIAN BROTHER SERVICES | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| LUMINARE HEALTH | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| WEBTPA | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| MEDICAL MUTUAL | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| AETNA EAP | AETNA | $19.93 | ↓ -45% |
| HEALTH PARTNERS | HEALTH PARTNERS | $36.74 | ↑ +1% |
| MEDICA | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $39.76 | ↑ +9% |
| CIGNA | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $39.76 | ↑ +9% |
| MIDLANDS CHOICE | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $39.76 | ↑ +9% |
| AUXIANT | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $39.76 | ↑ +9% |
| CIGNA EAP | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $39.76 | ↑ +9% |
| MIDLANDS | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $39.76 | ↑ +9% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE | UNITED HEALTHCARE DEERE PREMIER | $52.08 | ↑ +43% |
| IOWA DEPT OF PUBLIC HEALTH | CARE FOR YOURSELF | $56.00 | ↑ +54% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE | UHC OPTUM BEHAVIORAL HEALTH | $56.00 | ↑ +54% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Crystal identification light microscopy at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $56.44 | $4.40 – $37.17 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $49.80 | $7.33 – $7.33 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $51.35 | $7.10 – $79.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $83.20 | $50.68 – $128.00 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $83.20 | $48.38 – $144.08 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $59.15 | $7.10 – $91.00 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $83.20 | $48.92 – $128.00 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $36.40 | $7.10 – $56.00 |