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Brain MRI (with contrast) at Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center
3001 Sanford Pkwy, Thief River Falls, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1043218753
$3,116.00
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.
$3,895.00
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.
$374.99 with Primewest vs $3,661.30 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 | $374.99 | ↓ -88% |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | $374.99 | ↓ -88% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $607.75 | ↓ -80% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $1,215.50 | ↓ -61% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $1,480.10 | ↓ -53% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $1,589.16 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $1,604.74 | ↓ -49% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $1,604.74 | ↓ -49% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $1,604.74 | ↓ -49% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $1,604.74 | ↓ -49% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $1,604.74 | ↓ -49% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $1,635.90 | ↓ -48% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/TRUE | $2,086.94 | ↓ -33% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $2,086.94 | ↓ -33% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,142.25 | ↓ -31% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $2,455.02 | ↓ -21% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $2,455.02 | ↓ -21% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $3,154.95 | ↑ +1% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $3,252.33 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $3,384.76 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $3,422.15 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Choice | $3,423.71 | ↑ +10% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $3,505.50 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $3,505.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $3,505.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $3,505.50 | ↑ +13% |
| Medica | Elect | $3,661.30 | ↑ +18% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRI (with contrast) at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $3,116.00 | $374.99 – $3,505.50 |
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $3,189.60 | $374.99 – $3,588.30 |
| Sanford Bagley Medical Center | Bagley | $3,405.60 | $374.99 – $3,831.30 |
| Sanford Wheaton | Wheaton | $3,208.80 | $374.99 – $3,609.90 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $3,168.00 | $374.99 – $3,564.00 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $3,405.60 | $277.45 – $3,831.30 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $3,362.40 | $283.44 – $3,782.70 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | not published | $374.99 – $607.75 |