Smear gram stain at MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center
3421 W. 9th St, Waterloo, IA · MercyOne · · NPI 1700827896
$20.80
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.
$32.00
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.
$4.14 with IOWA TOTAL CARE vs $32.00 with UNITED HEALTHCARE — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IOWA TOTAL CARE | IOWA TOTAL CARE MEDICAID | $4.14 | ↓ -80% |
| AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $4.18 | ↓ -80% |
| MEDIGOLD MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | MERCYONE HEALTH PLAN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $4.18 | ↓ -80% |
| MEDICARE MEDICAL ASSOCIATES HEALTH PLANS | MEDICAL ASSOCIATES MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $4.18 | ↓ -80% |
| MOLINA MEDICAID | MOLINA MEDICAID | $4.18 | ↓ -80% |
| WELLPOINT MEDICAID | WELLPOINT MEDICAID | $4.20 | ↓ -80% |
| BLUE CROSS - IA (WELLMARK) MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | WELLMARK MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $4.23 | ↓ -80% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE MEDICARE | UNITED HEALTHCARE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $4.27 | ↓ -79% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE | UNITED HEALTHCARE | $4.27 | ↓ -79% |
| GEHA | UNITED HEALTHCARE | $4.27 | ↓ -79% |
| HEALTH PARTNERS MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | UNITYPOINT HEALTH PARTNERS MEDICARE ADV | $4.31 | ↓ -79% |
| WELLPOINT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | WELLPOINT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE | $4.36 | ↓ -79% |
| AMISH HOSPITAL AID | AMISH HOSPITAL AID | $5.68 | ↓ -73% |
| OSCAR | OSCAR | $6.55 | ↓ -69% |
| CENTIVO | CENTIVO | $7.09 | ↓ -66% |
| AMBETTER | AMBETTER MARKETPLACE | $7.17 | ↓ -66% |
| MEDICAL ASSOCIATES | MEDICAL ASSOCIATES | $7.52 | ↓ -64% |
| HEALTH CHOICES | MEDICAL ASSOCIATES | $7.52 | ↓ -64% |
| NOVA | CLAIMDOC | $8.58 | ↓ -59% |
| CLAIMDOC | CLAIMDOC | $8.58 | ↓ -59% |
| COVENTRY | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| ALLIED BENEFIT SYSTEMS | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| MERITAIN | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| FIRST HEALTH | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| ASR HEALTH BENEFITS | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| LUCENT HEALTH | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| AETNA DOMESTIC | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| AETNA | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| CHRISTIAN BROTHER SERVICES | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| LUMINARE HEALTH | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| WEBTPA | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| MEDICAL MUTUAL | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| AETNA EAP | AETNA | $11.63 | ↓ -44% |
| HEALTH PARTNERS | HEALTH PARTNERS | $20.99 | ↑ +1% |
| MEDICA | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $22.72 | ↑ +9% |
| CIGNA | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $22.72 | ↑ +9% |
| MIDLANDS CHOICE | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $22.72 | ↑ +9% |
| AUXIANT | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $22.72 | ↑ +9% |
| CIGNA EAP | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $22.72 | ↑ +9% |
| MIDLANDS | MIDLANDS CHOICE PPO | $22.72 | ↑ +9% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE | UNITED HEALTHCARE DEERE PREMIER | $29.76 | ↑ +43% |
| IOWA DEPT OF PUBLIC HEALTH | CARE FOR YOURSELF | $32.00 | ↑ +54% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE | UHC OPTUM BEHAVIORAL HEALTH | $32.00 | ↑ +54% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Smear gram stain at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital | Waterloo | $38.58 | $2.56 – $25.41 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $72.00 | $4.27 – $4.27 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $40.95 | $4.14 – $63.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $35.75 | $21.77 – $55.00 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $35.75 | $20.79 – $61.91 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $55.90 | $4.14 – $86.00 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $35.75 | $21.02 – $55.00 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $20.80 | $4.14 – $32.00 |