Large Joint Injection or Fluid Draw (both sides) at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center

1300 Anne Street NW, Bemidji, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1801870191

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Mar 4, 2026 · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$856.00

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.

$1,070.00

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.

$213.67 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $1,047.15 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota — 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
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota PMAP $213.67 ↓ -75%
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $275.21 ↓ -68%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $295.49 ↓ -65%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Medicare Replacement $298.39 ↓ -65%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $298.39 ↓ -65%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $298.39 ↓ -65%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $298.39 ↓ -65%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $298.39 ↓ -65%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $304.18 ↓ -64%
Ucare Medicaid Managed Care $309.95 ↓ -64%
Primewest Medicaid Managed Care $324.71 ↓ -62%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $487.60 ↓ -43%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/True $555.97 ↓ -35%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $573.63 ↓ -33%
Security Health Plan Commercial $588.50 ↓ -31%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial $654.09 ↓ -24%
Health Partners Commercial $749.00 ↓ -13%
Ucare Commercial $752.10 ↓ -12%
United Healthcare CSP Top 20 $814.27 ↓ -5%
Aetna Commercial $877.40 ↑ +3%
United Healthcare Commercial $893.45 ↑ +4%
Medica Choice $898.80 ↑ +5%
Medica Elect $961.93 ↑ +12%
Healthez Commercial $963.00 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $963.00 ↑ +13%
Cigna Commercial $963.00 ↑ +13%
Multiplan Commercial $963.00 ↑ +13%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Commercial/Federal $1,047.15 ↑ +22%

Visitor-reported prices

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Large Joint Injection or Fluid Draw (both sides) at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Canby Medical Center Canby $971.20 $293.91 – $1,092.60
Sanford Westbrook Hospital Westbrook $812.00 $245.73 – $913.50
Sanford Bagley Medical Center Bagley $856.00 $83.77 – $311.40
Sanford Wheaton Wheaton $687.20 $207.96 – $773.10
Sanford Luverne Medical Center Luverne $698.40 $211.35 – $785.70
Sanford Worthington Medical Center Worthington $747.20 $218.29 – $825.30
Sanford Tracy Hospital Tracy $812.00 $245.73 – $913.50
Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center Thief River Falls $600.80 $257.97 – $675.90

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →