Remove spine eltrd plate at UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital

1825 Logan Avenue, Waterloo, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1336231091

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Jan 28, 2026 · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$2,008.80

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$2,511.00

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$745.70 with Aetna vs $2,850.51 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 →

Payer
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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
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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 $745.70 ↓ -63%
Molina Medicare Advantage $760.61 ↓ -62%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage $760.61 ↓ -62%
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage $782.99 ↓ -61%
Humana Medicare Advantage $782.99 ↓ -61%
Amerivantage Medicare Advantage $782.99 ↓ -61%
Health Partners Open Network Commercial $1,579.41 ↓ -21%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO $1,676.90 ↓ -17%
Wellmark UPH Self-Funded Commercial $1,676.90 ↓ -17%
Aetna HMO $1,931.70 ↓ -4%
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO $1,972.80 ↓ -2%
Cigna/Midlands Commercial $1,986.55 ↓ -1%
Aetna PPO $2,303.94 ↑ +15%
United Healthcare PPO $2,510.32 ↑ +25%
United Healthcare HMO $2,510.32 ↑ +25%
Amerigroup Managed Medicaid $2,850.51 ↑ +42%
Iowa Total Care Managed Medicaid $2,850.51 ↑ +42%
Medica Exchange Insure Commercial not published by hospital
Medica Exchange Inspire Commercial not published by hospital

Visitor-reported prices

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Remove spine eltrd plate at other Iowa hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center Davenport $1,526.40 not published
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center Des Moines $32,051.68 $9.09 – $6,787.38
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center Davenport $1,602.60 not published
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center DeWitt $1,602.60 $928.00 – $2,679.00
UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital Dubuque $2,008.80 $745.70 – $3,023.68
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Grinnell $2,008.80 $745.70 – $3,421.69
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Lutheran Hospital Des Moines $2,008.80 $745.70 – $3,313.32
UnityPoint Health - Jones Regional Medical Center Anamosa $2,008.80 $745.70 – $1,986.55

All Iowa hospitals for this procedure →