Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center
1300 Anne Street NW, Bemidji, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1801870191
$668.00
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.
$835.00
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.
$132.55 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $751.50 with Healthez — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $132.55 | ↓ -80% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $165.97 | ↓ -75% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $178.20 | ↓ -73% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $179.95 | ↓ -73% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $179.95 | ↓ -73% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $179.95 | ↓ -73% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $179.95 | ↓ -73% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $179.95 | ↓ -73% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $183.44 | ↓ -73% |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | $186.92 | ↓ -72% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $195.82 | ↓ -71% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $380.51 | ↓ -43% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $433.87 | ↓ -35% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $447.64 | ↓ -33% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $459.25 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial | $510.44 | ↓ -24% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $584.50 | ↓ -13% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $586.92 | ↓ -12% |
| United Healthcare | CSP Top 20 | $635.44 | ↓ -5% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $649.59 | ↓ -3% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $684.70 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $697.23 | ↑ +4% |
| Medica | Choice | $701.40 | ↑ +5% |
| Medica | Elect | $750.67 | ↑ +12% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $751.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $751.50 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $751.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $751.50 | ↑ +13% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $652.00 | $186.92 – $733.50 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $526.40 | $159.30 – $592.20 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $618.40 | $135.41 – $695.70 |
| Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center | Thief River Falls | $537.60 | $186.92 – $604.80 |
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $537.60 | $186.92 – $604.80 |
| United Hospital | MN | 1175 Nininger Road. Hastings | $207.79 | $56.44 – $331.00 |
| Owatonna Hospital | Owatonna | $208.99 | $69.64 – $336.00 |
| Abbott Northwestern Hospital | MN 55407 | $207.79 | $56.44 – $445.67 |