Drain thyroid/tongue cyst at UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital
1825 Logan Avenue, Waterloo, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1336231091
$429.60
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.
$537.00
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.
$144.05 with Aetna vs $1,227.80 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 | $144.05 | ↓ -66% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $146.93 | ↓ -66% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $146.93 | ↓ -66% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $151.25 | ↓ -65% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $151.25 | ↓ -65% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $151.25 | ↓ -65% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $269.97 | ↓ -37% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $305.10 | ↓ -29% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $305.10 | ↓ -29% |
| Aetna | HMO | $324.01 | ↓ -25% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $359.00 | ↓ -16% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $383.64 | ↓ -11% |
| Aetna | PPO | $387.35 | ↓ -10% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $470.68 | ↑ +10% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $470.68 | ↑ +10% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $1,227.80 | ↑ +186% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $1,227.80 | ↑ +186% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
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Drain thyroid/tongue cyst at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital | Dubuque | $429.60 | $144.05 – $1,302.39 |
| UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center | Grinnell | $429.60 | $144.05 – $1,473.83 |
| UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital | Des Moines | $429.60 | $144.05 – $1,427.15 |
| UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center | Anamosa | $429.60 | $144.05 – $383.64 |
| UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown | Marshalltown | $429.60 | $144.05 – $1,441.43 |
| UnityPoint Health - St. Lukes Downtown | Sioux City | $429.60 | $139.62 – $1,311.86 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf | Bettendorf | $429.60 | $144.05 – $1,274.65 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Muscatine | Muscatine | $429.60 | $144.05 – $1,279.30 |