healthcosts.net
Chest CT scan (without contrast) at Sanford Wheaton
401 12th St N, Wheaton, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1154615573
$1,728.00
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.
$2,160.00
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.
$111.66 with Ucare vs $2,030.40 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 | $111.66 | ↓ -94% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | PMAP | $352.55 | ↓ -80% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $705.10 | ↓ -59% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $1,088.64 | ↓ -37% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $1,168.56 | ↓ -32% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $1,179.36 | ↓ -32% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $1,179.36 | ↓ -32% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $1,179.36 | ↓ -32% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $1,179.36 | ↓ -32% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $1,179.36 | ↓ -32% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $1,188.00 | ↓ -31% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $1,202.04 | ↓ -30% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $1,306.80 | ↓ -24% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Commercial | $1,486.73 | ↓ -14% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $1,705.10 | ↓ -1% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $1,749.60 | ↑ +1% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $1,803.60 | ↑ +4% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $1,877.04 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $1,897.78 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Choice | $1,898.64 | ↑ +10% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $1,944.00 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $1,944.00 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $1,944.00 | ↑ +13% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers/SD Exchange Commercial | $2,005.99 | ↑ +16% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $2,005.99 | ↑ +16% |
| Medica | Elect | $2,030.40 | ↑ +18% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Chest CT scan (without contrast) at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $2,071.20 | $111.66 – $2,330.10 |
| Sanford Bagley Medical Center | Bagley | $1,964.80 | $111.66 – $2,210.40 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | $2,176.80 | $111.66 – $2,448.90 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $2,341.60 | $111.66 – $2,634.30 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $1,964.80 | $79.32 – $2,210.40 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $2,372.80 | $81.04 – $2,669.40 |
| Sanford Tracy Hospital | Tracy | $2,176.80 | $111.66 – $2,448.90 |
| Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center | Thief River Falls | $1,746.40 | $111.66 – $1,964.70 |