Surgical pathology level 5 gross & microscopic examination at Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center
3001 Sanford Pkwy, Thief River Falls, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1043218753
$522.40
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.
$653.00
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.
$221.90 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $607.24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $221.90 | ↓ -58% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $245.48 | ↓ -53% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $263.57 | ↓ -50% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $266.15 | ↓ -49% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $266.15 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $266.15 | ↓ -49% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $266.15 | ↓ -49% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $266.15 | ↓ -49% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $271.32 | ↓ -48% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/TRUE | $346.13 | ↓ -34% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $346.13 | ↓ -34% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $355.30 | ↓ -32% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $407.17 | ↓ -22% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $407.17 | ↓ -22% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $446.39 | ↓ -15% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $523.26 | ↑ +0% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $539.41 | ↑ +3% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $561.37 | ↑ +7% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $567.58 | ↑ +9% |
| Medica | Choice | $567.83 | ↑ +9% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $581.40 | ↑ +11% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $581.40 | ↑ +11% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $581.40 | ↑ +11% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $581.40 | ↑ +11% |
| Medica | Elect | $607.24 | ↑ +16% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Surgical pathology level 5 gross & microscopic examination at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $522.40 | $221.90 – $581.40 |
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $528.00 | $159.79 – $594.00 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | $679.20 | $205.54 – $764.10 |
| Sanford Bagley Medical Center | Bagley | $558.40 | $168.99 – $628.20 |
| Sanford Wheaton | Wheaton | $463.20 | $140.18 – $521.10 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $680.00 | $205.79 – $765.00 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $558.40 | $259.32 – $628.20 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $558.40 | $264.92 – $628.20 |