Assay of urine sulfate at Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center
3001 Sanford Pkwy, Thief River Falls, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1043218753
$44.00
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.
$55.00
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.
$6.18 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $16.92 with Medica — 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 | $6.18 | ↓ -86% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $6.84 | ↓ -84% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $7.34 | ↓ -83% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $7.42 | ↓ -83% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $7.42 | ↓ -83% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $7.42 | ↓ -83% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $7.42 | ↓ -83% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $7.42 | ↓ -83% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $7.56 | ↓ -83% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/TRUE | $9.64 | ↓ -78% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $9.64 | ↓ -78% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $9.90 | ↓ -78% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $11.35 | ↓ -74% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $11.35 | ↓ -74% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $12.44 | ↓ -72% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $14.58 | ↓ -67% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $15.03 | ↓ -66% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $15.64 | ↓ -64% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $15.81 | ↓ -64% |
| Medica | Choice | $15.82 | ↓ -64% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $16.20 | ↓ -63% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $16.20 | ↓ -63% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $16.20 | ↓ -63% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $16.20 | ↓ -63% |
| Medica | Elect | $16.92 | ↓ -62% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Assay of urine sulfate at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $44.00 | $6.18 – $16.20 |
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $14.40 | $4.36 – $16.20 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | $28.80 | $8.72 – $32.40 |
| Sanford Wheaton | Wheaton | $13.60 | $4.12 – $15.30 |
| Sanford Tracy Hospital | Tracy | $28.80 | $8.72 – $32.40 |
| United Hospital | MN | 1175 Nininger Road. Hastings | $12.10 | $3.23 – $10.02 |
| Owatonna Hospital | Owatonna | $10.47 | $4.64 – $13.80 |
| Abbott Northwestern Hospital | MN 55407 | $12.10 | $3.23 – $18.71 |