Injection(s) diagnostic/therapeutic agent facet lumbar/sacral single level 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

$1,792.00

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.

$2,240.00

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.

$769.44 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $2,105.60 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
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota PMAP $769.44 ↓ -57%
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $851.20 ↓ -53%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $913.92 ↓ -49%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $922.88 ↓ -49%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $922.88 ↓ -49%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $922.88 ↓ -49%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Medicare Replacement $922.88 ↓ -49%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $922.88 ↓ -49%
Ucare Medicaid Managed Care $934.80 ↓ -48%
Primewest Medicaid Managed Care $934.80 ↓ -48%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $940.80 ↓ -48%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/TRUE $1,200.19 ↓ -33%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $1,200.19 ↓ -33%
Security Health Plan Commercial $1,232.00 ↓ -31%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $1,411.87 ↓ -21%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $1,411.87 ↓ -21%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Commercial/Federal $1,547.84 ↓ -14%
Health Partners Commercial $1,814.40 ↑ +1%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $1,870.40 ↑ +4%
Aetna Commercial $1,946.56 ↑ +9%
Ucare Commercial $1,968.06 ↑ +10%
Medica Choice $1,968.96 ↑ +10%
Multiplan Commercial $2,016.00 ↑ +13%
Healthez Commercial $2,016.00 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $2,016.00 ↑ +13%
Cigna Commercial $2,016.00 ↑ +13%
Medica Elect $2,105.60 ↑ +18%

Visitor-reported prices

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Injection(s) diagnostic/therapeutic agent facet lumbar/sacral single level at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls Thief River Falls $1,792.00 $769.44 – $2,016.00
Sanford Bemidji Medical Center Bemidji $2,364.80 $657.57 – $2,660.40
United Hospital MN | 1175 Nininger Road. Hastings $1,921.20 $628.58 – $3,243.00
Owatonna Hospital Owatonna $1,521.07 $775.65 – $3,572.45
Abbott Northwestern Hospital MN 55407 $1,921.20 $628.58 – $3,243.00
Allina Health Faribault Medical Center Faribualt $1,521.07 $775.65 – $3,572.45
New Ulm Medical Center MN 56073 $1,520.51 $769.07 – $3,460.01
Mercy Hospital MN 55443 | 550 Osborne Road NE. Fridley $1,921.20 $628.58 – $3,243.00

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →