Heparin bolus from bag at Sanford Wheaton
401 12th St N, Wheaton, MN · Sanford Health · · NPI 1154615573
$71.20
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.
$89.00
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.
$7.47 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $29.02 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 | $7.47 | ↓ -90% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $15.56 | ↓ -78% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $16.70 | ↓ -77% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Medicare Replacement | $16.86 | ↓ -76% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $16.86 | ↓ -76% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $16.86 | ↓ -76% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $16.86 | ↓ -76% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $16.86 | ↓ -76% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $16.98 | ↓ -76% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $17.18 | ↓ -76% |
| Primewest | Medicaid Managed Care | $18.68 | ↓ -74% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota | Commercial | $21.25 | ↓ -70% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $24.37 | ↓ -66% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $25.00 | ↓ -65% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $25.78 | ↓ -64% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $26.83 | ↓ -62% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $27.12 | ↓ -62% |
| Medica | Choice | $27.13 | ↓ -62% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $27.78 | ↓ -61% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $27.78 | ↓ -61% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $27.78 | ↓ -61% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Commercial/Federal | $28.56 | ↓ -60% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $28.67 | ↓ -60% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers/SD Exchange Commercial | $28.67 | ↓ -60% |
| Medica | Elect | $29.02 | ↓ -59% |
| Ucare | Medicaid Managed Care | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Heparin bolus from bag at other Minnesota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Canby Medical Center | Canby | $130.43 | $18.20 – $67.64 |
| Sanford Westbrook Hospital | Westbrook | $134.54 | $18.39 – $68.38 |
| Sanford Bagley Medical Center | Bagley | $50.51 | $14.76 – $54.86 |
| Sanford Luverne Medical Center | Luverne | $156.88 | $18.20 – $67.67 |
| Sanford Bemidji Medical Center | Bemidji | $53.76 | $1.02 – $15.19 |
| Sanford Worthington Medical Center | Worthington | $134.02 | $1.00 – $67.70 |
| Sanford Tracy Hospital | Tracy | $97.60 | $18.37 – $68.28 |
| Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center | Thief River Falls | $75.96 | $15.10 – $39.56 |