healthcosts.net
Shoulder MRI (without contrast) at UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital
1825 Logan Avenue, Waterloo, IA · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1336231091
$1,299.74
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.
$1,624.67
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.
$59.32 with Aetna vs $856.20 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 | $59.32 | ↓ -95% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $60.51 | ↓ -95% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $60.51 | ↓ -95% |
| Amerivantage | Medicare Advantage | $62.29 | ↓ -95% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $62.29 | ↓ -95% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $62.29 | ↓ -95% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $87.21 | ↓ -93% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $87.21 | ↓ -93% |
| Cigna/Midlands | Commercial | $125.79 | ↓ -90% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $130.81 | ↓ -90% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO | $142.20 | ↓ -89% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $142.20 | ↓ -89% |
| Aetna | HMO | $155.85 | ↓ -88% |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $167.30 | ↓ -87% |
| Aetna | PPO | $176.92 | ↓ -86% |
| Amerigroup | Managed Medicaid | $200.36 | ↓ -85% |
| Iowa Total Care | Managed Medicaid | $200.36 | ↓ -85% |
| Medica Exchange Inspire | Commercial | $765.22 | ↓ -41% |
| Medica Exchange Insure | Commercial | $856.20 | ↓ -34% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Shoulder MRI (without contrast) at other Iowa hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center | Waterloo | $4,808.00 | $224.79 – $4,808.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Davenport West Medical Center | Davenport | $2,247.60 | $231.38 – $323.93 |
| MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center | Dubuque | $4,516.85 | $214.06 – $4,633.00 |
| MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center | New Hampton | $3,858.40 | $1,566.58 – $3,957.00 |
| MercyOne Clinton Medical Center | Clinton | $2,237.30 | $219.72 – $2,294.00 |
| MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center | Oelwein | $3,858.40 | $1,512.37 – $3,957.00 |
| MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center | Cedar Falls | $4,687.80 | $224.79 – $4,808.00 |
| MercyOne Elkader Medical Center | Elkader | $3,858.40 | $2,036.67 – $4,135.86 |