healthcosts.net
Brain MRI (with contrast) at Sanford Wheaton
401 12th St N, Wheaton, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1154615573
$3,208.80
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$4,011.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$374.99 with Ucare vs $3,770.34 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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | $374.99 | ↓ -88% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $607.75 | ↓ -81% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $1,215.50 | ↓ -62% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $2,021.54 | ↓ -37% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $2,169.95 | ↓ -32% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $2,190.01 | ↓ -32% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $2,190.01 | ↓ -32% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $2,190.01 | ↓ -32% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $2,190.01 | ↓ -32% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $2,190.01 | ↓ -32% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $2,206.05 | ↓ -31% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $2,232.12 | ↓ -30% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $2,426.66 | ↓ -24% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Commercial | $2,760.77 | ↓ -14% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $3,166.28 | ↓ -1% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $3,248.91 | ↑ +1% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $3,349.19 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $3,485.56 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $3,524.06 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Choice | $3,525.67 | ↑ +10% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $3,609.90 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $3,609.90 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $3,609.90 | ↑ +13% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers/SD Exchange Commercial | $3,725.02 | ↑ +16% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $3,725.02 | ↑ +16% |
| Medica | Elect | $3,770.34 | ↑ +18% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRI (with contrast) at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $3,189.60 | $374.99 – $3,588.30 |
| Sanford Bagley Medical Center | Bagley | $3,405.60 | $374.99 – $3,831.30 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $3,168.00 | $374.99 – $3,564.00 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $3,405.60 | $277.45 – $3,831.30 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $3,362.40 | $283.44 – $3,782.70 |
| Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center | Thief River Falls | $3,116.00 | $374.99 – $3,505.50 |
| Sanford Behavioral Health Thief River Falls | Thief River Falls | $3,116.00 | $374.99 – $3,505.50 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | not published | $374.99 – $607.75 |