Barium Enema (Colon X-ray, barium and air) at Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center

3001 Sanford Pkwy, Thief River Falls, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1043218753

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

$1,146.40

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.

$1,433.00

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.

$186.92 with Primewest vs $1,347.02 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 →

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
Primewest Medicaid Managed Care $186.92 ↓ -84%
Ucare Medicaid Managed Care $186.92 ↓ -84%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota PMAP $492.24 ↓ -57%
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $544.54 ↓ -53%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $584.66 ↓ -49%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $590.40 ↓ -48%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $590.40 ↓ -48%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Medicare Replacement $590.40 ↓ -48%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $590.40 ↓ -48%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $590.40 ↓ -48%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $601.86 ↓ -48%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $767.80 ↓ -33%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/TRUE $767.80 ↓ -33%
Security Health Plan Commercial $788.15 ↓ -31%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $903.22 ↓ -21%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $903.22 ↓ -21%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Commercial/Federal $990.20 ↓ -14%
Health Partners Commercial $1,160.73 ↑ +1%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $1,196.56 ↑ +4%
Aetna Commercial $1,245.28 ↑ +9%
Ucare Commercial $1,259.03 ↑ +10%
Medica Choice $1,259.61 ↑ +10%
Multiplan Commercial $1,289.70 ↑ +13%
Healthez Commercial $1,289.70 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $1,289.70 ↑ +13%
Cigna Commercial $1,289.70 ↑ +13%
Medica Elect $1,347.02 ↑ +18%

Visitor-reported prices

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Barium Enema (Colon X-ray, barium and air) at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls Thief River Falls $1,146.40 $186.92 – $1,289.70
Sanford Canby Medical Center Canby $1,071.20 $186.92 – $1,205.10
Sanford Luverne Medical Center Luverne $1,113.60 $186.92 – $1,252.80
Sanford Bemidji Medical Center Bemidji $1,103.20 $132.55 – $1,241.10
Sanford Worthington Medical Center Worthington $1,114.40 $135.41 – $1,253.70
United Hospital MN | 1175 Nininger Road. Hastings $277.06 $154.29 – $397.01
Owatonna Hospital Owatonna $278.66 $164.00 – $514.39
Abbott Northwestern Hospital MN 55407 $277.06 $154.29 – $445.67

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →