Magnesium sulfate 2 gram/50 ml (4 %) in water intravenous piggyback 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

$96.12

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.

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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$120.15

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.

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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$14.88 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $40.71 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.

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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 $14.88 ↓ -85%
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $16.46 ↓ -83%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $17.67 ↓ -82%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Medicare Replacement $17.84 ↓ -81%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $17.84 ↓ -81%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $17.84 ↓ -81%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $17.84 ↓ -81%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $17.84 ↓ -81%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $18.19 ↓ -81%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/TRUE $23.21 ↓ -76%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $23.21 ↓ -76%
Security Health Plan Commercial $23.82 ↓ -75%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $27.30 ↓ -72%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $27.30 ↓ -72%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Commercial/Federal $29.93 ↓ -69%
Health Partners Commercial $35.08 ↓ -64%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $36.16 ↓ -62%
Aetna Commercial $37.64 ↓ -61%
Ucare Commercial $38.05 ↓ -60%
Medica Choice $38.07 ↓ -60%
Cigna Commercial $38.98 ↓ -59%
Multiplan Commercial $38.98 ↓ -59%
Healthez Commercial $38.98 ↓ -59%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $38.98 ↓ -59%
Medica Elect $40.71 ↓ -58%
Primewest Medicaid Managed Care not published by hospital —
Ucare Medicaid Managed Care not published by hospital —

Visitor-reported prices

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Magnesium sulfate 2 gram/50 ml (4 %) in water intravenous piggyback at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls Thief River Falls $96.12 $14.88 – $38.98
Sanford Canby Medical Center Canby $106.42 $18.23 – $67.76
Sanford Westbrook Hospital Westbrook $132.22 $18.29 – $67.99
Sanford Bagley Medical Center Bagley $54.36 $14.69 – $54.60
Sanford Wheaton Wheaton $180.45 $7.39 – $27.46
Sanford Luverne Medical Center Luverne $128.80 $18.29 – $67.98
Sanford Bemidji Medical Center Bemidji $57.00 $1.02 – $2.93
Sanford Worthington Medical Center Worthington $130.26 $1.00 – $67.96

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →