Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center
3001 Sanford Pkwy, Thief River Falls, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1043218753
$537.60
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.
$672.00
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.
$186.92 with Primewest vs $631.68 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $186.92 | ↓ -65% |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | $186.92 | ↓ -65% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $230.83 | ↓ -57% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $255.36 | ↓ -53% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $274.18 | ↓ -49% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $276.86 | ↓ -49% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $276.86 | ↓ -49% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $276.86 | ↓ -49% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $276.86 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $276.86 | ↓ -49% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $282.24 | ↓ -48% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $360.06 | ↓ -33% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/TRUE | $360.06 | ↓ -33% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $369.60 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $423.56 | ↓ -21% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $423.56 | ↓ -21% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $464.35 | ↓ -14% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $544.32 | ↑ +1% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $561.12 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $583.97 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $590.42 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Choice | $590.69 | ↑ +10% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $604.80 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $604.80 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $604.80 | ↑ +13% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $604.80 | ↑ +13% |
| Medica | Elect | $631.68 | ↑ +18% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $537.60 | $186.92 – $604.80 |
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $652.00 | $186.92 – $733.50 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $526.40 | $159.30 – $592.20 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $668.00 | $132.55 – $751.50 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $618.40 | $135.41 – $695.70 |
| United Hospital | MN | 1175 Nininger Road. Hastings | $207.79 | $56.44 – $331.00 |
| Owatonna Hospital | Owatonna | $208.99 | $69.64 – $336.00 |
| Abbott Northwestern Hospital | MN 55407 | $207.79 | $56.44 – $445.67 |