healthcosts.net

ER Visit (level 5, high severity) at Sanford Tracy Hospital

251 5th St E, Tracy, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1003851171

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Mar 4, 2026 · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$1,752.80

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.

Full explanation →

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

$2,191.00

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.

Full explanation →

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

$530.44 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $2,059.54 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 →

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 $530.44 ↓ -70%
Ucare Medicaid Managed Care $643.76 ↓ -63%
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $854.49 ↓ -51%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $915.84 ↓ -48%
Wellmark SD Medicare Replacement $915.84 ↓ -48%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $924.60 ↓ -47%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $924.60 ↓ -47%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $924.60 ↓ -47%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $924.60 ↓ -47%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $943.23 ↓ -46%
Primewest Medicaid Managed Care $1,060.44 ↓ -40%
Security Health Plan Commercial $1,205.05 ↓ -31%
Health Partners State Employees $1,509.60 ↓ -14%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/True $1,729.58 ↓ -1%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $1,729.58 ↓ -1%
Health Partners Commercial $1,752.80 ↑ +0%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota State Employees $1,792.24 ↑ +2%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $1,829.49 ↑ +4%
Aetna Commercial $1,903.98 ↑ +9%
Ucare Commercial $1,925.01 ↑ +10%
Medica Choice $1,925.89 ↑ +10%
Cigna Commercial $1,971.90 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $1,971.90 ↑ +13%
Healthez Commercial $1,971.90 ↑ +13%
Multiplan Commercial $1,971.90 ↑ +13%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Commercial/Federal $2,027.11 ↑ +16%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $2,034.78 ↑ +16%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $2,034.78 ↑ +16%
Medica Elect $2,059.54 ↑ +18%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
Report what you paid sign in to post

Comments

Add a comment sign in to post

ER Visit (level 5, high severity) at other Minnesota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Canby Medical Center Canby $1,670.40 $505.50 – $1,879.20
Sanford Westbrook Hospital Westbrook $1,752.80 $530.44 – $1,971.90
Sanford Bagley Medical Center Bagley $2,052.80 $621.23 – $2,309.40
Sanford Wheaton Wheaton $1,270.40 $384.45 – $1,429.20
Sanford Luverne Medical Center Luverne $1,766.40 $534.56 – $1,987.20
Sanford Bemidji Medical Center Bemidji $2,052.80 $463.38 – $2,309.40
Sanford Worthington Medical Center Worthington $1,335.20 $473.40 – $1,502.10
Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center Thief River Falls $1,622.40 $643.76 – $1,825.20

All Minnesota hospitals for this procedure →