Electrolyte panel at Sanford Westbrook Hospital
920 Bell Ave, Westbrook, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1942253547
$127.20
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$159.00
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.
$38.49 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $149.46 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 | $38.49 | ↓ -70% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $68.05 | ↓ -47% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $72.98 | ↓ -43% |
| Wellmark SD | Medicare Replacement | $72.98 | ↓ -43% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $73.78 | ↓ -42% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $73.78 | ↓ -42% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $73.78 | ↓ -42% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $73.78 | ↓ -42% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $75.13 | ↓ -41% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $80.45 | ↓ -37% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $87.45 | ↓ -31% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $109.55 | ↓ -14% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $125.51 | ↓ -1% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $125.51 | ↓ -1% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $127.20 | ↑ +0% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | State Employees | $130.06 | ↑ +2% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $132.77 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $138.17 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $139.70 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Choice | $139.76 | ↑ +10% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $143.10 | ↑ +13% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $143.10 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $143.10 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $143.10 | ↑ +13% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $147.11 | ↑ +16% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $147.66 | ↑ +16% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $147.66 | ↑ +16% |
| Medica | Elect | $149.46 | ↑ +18% |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Electrolyte panel at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $109.60 | $33.17 – $123.30 |
| Sanford Wheaton | Wheaton | $66.40 | $20.09 – $74.70 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $48.00 | $14.53 – $54.00 |
| Sanford Tracy Hospital | Tracy | $127.20 | $38.49 – $143.10 |
| Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center | Thief River Falls | $116.80 | $50.15 – $131.40 |
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $116.80 | $50.15 – $131.40 |
| United Hospital | MN | 1175 Nininger Road. Hastings | $55.30 | $6.53 – $37.17 |
| Owatonna Hospital | Owatonna | $50.51 | $6.53 – $46.84 |