Smear fluorescent and/or acid fast stain at Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center

300 S Byron Blvd, Chamberlain, SD · Sanford Health · · NPI 1134140825

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

$76.00

Cash price

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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.

$95.00

Gross charge

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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.

$32.49 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $85.50 with First Choice Health Network — 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 →

Payer
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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
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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
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $32.49 ↓ -57%
Wellmark SD Medicare Replacement $34.87 ↓ -54%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $34.87 ↓ -54%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $35.25 ↓ -54%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $35.25 ↓ -54%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $35.25 ↓ -54%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $35.25 ↓ -54%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $35.91 ↓ -53%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $52.05 ↓ -32%
Security Health Plan Commercial $52.25 ↓ -31%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/TRUE $59.36 ↓ -22%
Sanford Health Plan Exchange True $61.24 ↓ -19%
Health Partners State Employees $61.47 ↓ -19%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $69.83 ↓ -8%
Health Partners Commercial $71.25 ↓ -6%
Medica Choice $78.38 ↑ +3%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $79.33 ↑ +4%
Wellmark SD Commercial $81.70 ↑ +8%
Aetna Commercial $82.56 ↑ +9%
Ucare Commercial $83.47 ↑ +10%
Medica Elect $83.79 ↑ +10%
Healthez Commercial $85.50 ↑ +13%
Multiplan Commercial $85.50 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $85.50 ↑ +13%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
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Smear fluorescent and/or acid fast stain at other South-dakota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Clear Lake Medical Center Clear Lake $73.60 $47.20 – $82.80
Sanford Hospital Webster Webster $52.00 $20.41 – $58.50
Sanford Canton Inwood Medical Center Canton $44.00 $18.81 – $49.50
Sanford Vermillion Hospital Vermillion $43.20 $15.93 – $48.60
Sanford USD Medical Center Sioux Falls not published $5.12 – $11.04
Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center Aberdeen not published $5.12 – $5.66

All South-dakota hospitals for this procedure →