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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital
1825 Logan Avenue, Waterloo, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1336231091
$1,183.88
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.
$1,479.85
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.
$64.86 with Aetna vs $779.88 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Medicare Advantage | $64.86 | ↓ -95% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $66.16 | ↓ -94% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $66.16 | ↓ -94% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $68.10 | ↓ -94% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $68.10 | ↓ -94% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $68.10 | ↓ -94% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $94.59 | ↓ -92% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $94.59 | ↓ -92% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $137.55 | ↓ -88% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $142.62 | ↓ -88% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $155.60 | ↓ -87% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $155.60 | ↓ -87% |
| Aetna | HMO | $169.50 | ↓ -86% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $183.00 | ↓ -85% |
| Aetna | PPO | $191.66 | ↓ -84% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $200.36 | ↓ -83% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $200.36 | ↓ -83% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $697.01 | ↓ -41% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $779.88 | ↓ -34% |
Visitor-reported prices
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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center | Waterloo | $3,125.20 | $224.79 – $4,808.00 |
| UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital | Des Moines | $4,099.13 | $64.86 – $1,506.43 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $2,598.70 | $1,582.81 – $3,998.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $2,598.70 | $219.72 – $3,998.00 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $2,598.70 | $1,528.04 – $3,998.00 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $2,598.70 | $2,057.77 – $4,178.71 |
| MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center | West Des Moines | $5,237.00 | $225.21 – $5,237.00 |
| MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center | Des Moines | $2,589.60 | $110.18 – $3,984.00 |