healthcosts.net
Cataract Surgery at UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital
1825 Logan Avenue, Waterloo, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1336231091
$2,715.20
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.
$3,394.00
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.
$488.93 with Aetna vs $1,890.44 with Iowa Total Care — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $488.93 | ↓ -82% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $498.71 | ↓ -82% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $498.71 | ↓ -82% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $513.38 | ↓ -81% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $513.38 | ↓ -81% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $513.38 | ↓ -81% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $1,016.90 | ↓ -63% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $1,016.90 | ↓ -63% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $1,196.40 | ↓ -56% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $1,221.90 | ↓ -55% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $1,312.39 | ↓ -52% |
| Aetna | HMO | $1,425.87 | ↓ -47% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $1,696.53 | ↓ -38% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $1,696.53 | ↓ -38% |
| Aetna | PPO | $1,702.14 | ↓ -37% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $1,890.44 | ↓ -30% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $1,890.44 | ↓ -30% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Cataract Surgery at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center | Waterloo | $12,099.00 | $0.32 – $5,817.59 |
| UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital | Des Moines | $2,715.20 | $488.93 – $2,197.37 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $14,929.23 | $0.32 – $4,611.24 |
| MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center | Dyersville | $5,699.46 | $0.96 – $3.44 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $11,667.47 | $2.28 – $4,938.64 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $17,563.65 | $0.32 – $5,817.59 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $9,136.24 | $0.96 – $2.46 |
| MercyOne Newton Medical Center | Newton | $7,794.65 | $0.16 – $4,480.44 |