Consultation/report referred material w/preparation of slides at Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center
3001 Sanford Pkwy, Thief River Falls, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1043218753
$171.20
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$214.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$65.27 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $178.60 with Medica — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 | $65.27 | ↓ -62% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $72.20 | ↓ -58% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $77.52 | ↓ -55% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $78.28 | ↓ -54% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $78.28 | ↓ -54% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $78.28 | ↓ -54% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $78.28 | ↓ -54% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $78.28 | ↓ -54% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $79.80 | ↓ -53% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/TRUE | $101.80 | ↓ -41% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $101.80 | ↓ -41% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $104.50 | ↓ -39% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $119.76 | ↓ -30% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $119.76 | ↓ -30% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $131.29 | ↓ -23% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $153.90 | ↓ -10% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $158.65 | ↓ -7% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $165.11 | ↓ -4% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $166.93 | ↓ -2% |
| Medica | Choice | $167.01 | ↓ -2% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $171.00 | ↓ -0% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $171.00 | ↓ -0% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $171.00 | ↓ -0% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $171.00 | ↓ -0% |
| Medica | Elect | $178.60 | ↑ +4% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Consultation/report referred material w/preparation of slides at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $171.20 | $65.27 – $171.00 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $164.00 | $39.09 – $184.50 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | not published | $39.93 – $55.06 |