Blood Culture Test at United Hospital

333 Smith Ave N. St. Paul, MN | 1175 Nininger Road. Hastings, MN · Allinahealth · · NPI 1457319485

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Jun 16, 2026 · Ingested Sep 17, 2026

$67.49

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.

$140.60

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.

$9.60 with allina aetna medicare (u) vs $140.60 with all other contracted care (a b c d e g h n o r s u) — 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
allina aetna medicare (u) allina aetna medicare (u) $9.60 ↓ -86%
medicare medicare (u) $10.11 ↓ -85%
medicare other all other medicare (u) $10.11 ↓ -85%
medicaid medicaid ma (u) $10.31 ↓ -85%
all other medicaid all other medicaid (u) $10.31 ↓ -85%
medica medica medicare (u) $10.62 ↓ -84%
bcbs bc medicare (u) $10.62 ↓ -84%
south country health alliance scha pmap (u) $10.62 ↓ -84%
uhc ubh pmap uhc ubh pmap (u) $12.89 ↓ -81%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc pmap (amu) $16.78 ↓ -75%
health partners hpi pmap (amu) $18.86 ↓ -72%
health partners hpi medicare (amu) $21.81 ↓ -68%
ucare pmap (a b c d e g n o s u r h) ucare pmap (abdmnorsuv) $28.29 ↓ -58%
medica pmap (um) medica pmap (um) $31.21 ↓ -54%
health partners hpi cigna (mu) $35.22 ↓ -48%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc state health plan (mu) $41.67 ↓ -38%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc premier (m u) $44.23 ↓ -34%
blue cross allina health blueprint (mu) $47.62 ↓ -29%
aetna aetna elevate (amu) $49.56 ↓ -27%
bcbs bc aehp (mu) $52.04 ↓ -23%
aetna aetna performance (amu) $52.72 ↓ -22%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc high value/performance network (mu) $55.86 ↓ -17%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc aware/blue plus (m u) $58.80 ↓ -13%
medica dual solutions (a u) medica dual solutions (a u) $62.43 ↓ -7%
aetna direct network aetna direct network (amu) $76.82 ↑ +14%
united healthcare (um) united healthcare (um) $85.06 ↑ +26%
americas ppo (araz)(a m u) americas ppo (araz)(a m u) $94.09 ↑ +39%
medica ubh (u) medica ubh (u) $98.42 ↑ +46%
americas ppo (araz) americas ppo (araz) (a c m u) $104.04 ↑ +54%
medica health system medica elect (u m) $104.41 ↑ +55%
medica mhps medica mhps (u m) $109.01 ↑ +62%
medica medica essentials (u m) $109.01 ↑ +62%
medica ubh pmap medica ubh pmap (u) $112.48 ↑ +67%
medica health system medica choice (u m) $114.73 ↑ +70%
first health (a c e g h u b d n o r s) first health (abdmnosurv) $118.10 ↑ +75%
all other contracted care (a b c d e g h n o r s u) all other contracted care (a b c d m h n o r s u v) $140.60 ↑ +108%

Visitor-reported prices

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Blood Culture Test at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Canby Medical Center Canby $133.60 $40.43 – $150.30
Sanford Westbrook Hospital Westbrook $149.60 $45.27 – $168.30
Sanford Wheaton Wheaton $119.20 $36.07 – $134.10
Sanford Luverne Medical Center Luverne $72.80 $22.03 – $81.90
Sanford Tracy Hospital Tracy $149.60 $45.27 – $168.30
Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center Thief River Falls $145.60 $62.52 – $163.80
Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls Thief River Falls $145.60 $62.52 – $163.80
Owatonna Hospital Owatonna $61.66 $9.60 – $81.24

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →