Sodium serum/plasma/whole blood 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

$88.51

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.

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

$184.40

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.

$4.47 with allina aetna medicare (u) vs $29.64 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
allina aetna medicare (u) allina aetna medicare (u) $4.47 ↓ -95%
medicare medicare (u) $4.71 ↓ -95%
medicare other all other medicare (u) $4.71 ↓ -95%
medicaid medicaid ma (u) $4.81 ↓ -95%
all other medicaid all other medicaid (u) $4.81 ↓ -95%
medica medica medicare (u) $4.95 ↓ -94%
bcbs bc medicare (u) $4.95 ↓ -94%
south country health alliance scha pmap (u) $4.95 ↓ -94%
ucare pmap (a b c d e g n o s u r h) ucare pmap (abdmnorsuv) $5.73 ↓ -94%
uhc ubh pmap uhc ubh pmap (u) $6.01 ↓ -93%
medica pmap (um) medica pmap (um) $6.33 ↓ -93%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc pmap (amu) $8.46 ↓ -90%
health partners hpi pmap (amu) $8.84 ↓ -90%
aetna aetna elevate (amu) $10.05 ↓ -89%
health partners hpi medicare (amu) $10.22 ↓ -88%
aetna aetna performance (amu) $10.69 ↓ -88%
medica dual solutions (a u) medica dual solutions (a u) $12.65 ↓ -86%
aetna direct network aetna direct network (amu) $15.57 ↓ -82%
health partners hpi cigna (mu) $16.51 ↓ -81%
united healthcare (um) united healthcare (um) $17.24 ↓ -81%
americas ppo (araz)(a m u) americas ppo (araz)(a m u) $19.07 ↓ -78%
medica ubh (u) medica ubh (u) $19.95 ↓ -77%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc state health plan (mu) $21.01 ↓ -76%
americas ppo (araz) americas ppo (araz) (a c m u) $21.09 ↓ -76%
medica health system medica elect (u m) $21.16 ↓ -76%
medica mhps medica mhps (u m) $22.10 ↓ -75%
medica medica essentials (u m) $22.10 ↓ -75%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc premier (m u) $22.30 ↓ -75%
medica ubh pmap medica ubh pmap (u) $22.80 ↓ -74%
medica health system medica choice (u m) $23.26 ↓ -74%
first health (a c e g h u b d n o r s) first health (abdmnosurv) $23.94 ↓ -73%
blue cross allina health blueprint (mu) $24.01 ↓ -73%
bcbs bc aehp (mu) $26.23 ↓ -70%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc high value/performance network (mu) $28.17 ↓ -68%
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) $28.50 ↓ -68%
blue cross blue shield of minnesota bc aware/blue plus (m u) $29.64 ↓ -67%

Visitor-reported prices

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Sodium serum/plasma/whole blood at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Canby Medical Center Canby $50.40 $15.25 – $56.70
Sanford Westbrook Hospital Westbrook $100.00 $30.26 – $112.50
Sanford Wheaton Wheaton $45.60 $13.80 – $51.30
Sanford Luverne Medical Center Luverne $27.20 $8.23 – $30.60
Sanford Tracy Hospital Tracy $100.00 $30.26 – $112.50
Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center Thief River Falls $47.20 $20.27 – $53.10
Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls Thief River Falls $47.20 $20.27 – $53.10
Owatonna Hospital Owatonna $80.86 $4.47 – $30.25

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →