Smear wet mount 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

$72.80

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.

$91.00

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.

$29.75 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $78.30 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 $29.75 ↓ -59%
Wellmark SD Medicare Replacement $31.93 ↓ -56%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $31.93 ↓ -56%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $32.28 ↓ -56%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $32.28 ↓ -56%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $32.28 ↓ -56%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $32.28 ↓ -56%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $32.89 ↓ -55%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $47.67 ↓ -35%
Security Health Plan Commercial $47.85 ↓ -34%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/TRUE $54.36 ↓ -25%
Sanford Health Plan Exchange True $56.08 ↓ -23%
Health Partners State Employees $56.29 ↓ -23%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $63.95 ↓ -12%
Health Partners Commercial $65.25 ↓ -10%
Medica Choice $71.78 ↓ -1%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $72.65 ↓ -0%
Wellmark SD Commercial $74.82 ↑ +3%
Aetna Commercial $75.60 ↑ +4%
Ucare Commercial $76.44 ↑ +5%
Medica Elect $76.73 ↑ +5%
Healthez Commercial $78.30 ↑ +8%
Multiplan Commercial $78.30 ↑ +8%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $78.30 ↑ +8%

Visitor-reported prices

visitor-reported
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Smear wet mount at other South-dakota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Clear Lake Medical Center Clear Lake $38.40 $24.62 – $43.20
Sanford Hospital Webster Webster $60.00 $23.55 – $67.50
Sanford Canton Inwood Medical Center Canton $35.20 $15.05 – $39.60
Sanford Vermillion Hospital Vermillion $36.80 $13.57 – $41.40
Sanford USD Medical Center Sioux Falls not published $5.53 – $11.92
Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center Aberdeen not published $5.53 – $6.11

All South-dakota hospitals for this procedure →