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Chest CT scan (without contrast) at Sanford Clear Lake Medical Center
701 3rd Ave S, Clear Lake, SD · Sanford Health · · NPI 1851305296
$2,188.80
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$2,736.00
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.
$705.10 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $2,544.21 with Sanford Health Plan — 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 | Commercial/Federal | $705.10 | ↓ -68% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | State Employees | $705.10 | ↓ -68% |
| Sanford Health Plan Align | Medicare Replacement | $1,403.57 | ↓ -36% |
| Security Health Plan | Commercial | $1,504.80 | ↓ -31% |
| Ucare | Medicare Replacement | $1,507.54 | ↓ -31% |
| Wellmark SD | Medicare Replacement | $1,507.54 | ↓ -31% |
| Aetna | Medicare Replacement | $1,521.22 | ↓ -30% |
| Great Plains Medicare Advantage | Medicare Replacement | $1,521.22 | ↓ -30% |
| Health Partners | Medicare Replacement | $1,521.22 | ↓ -30% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Replacement | $1,521.22 | ↓ -30% |
| Primewest | Medicare Replacement | $1,551.31 | ↓ -29% |
| Health Partners | State Employees | $1,770.19 | ↓ -19% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange True | $1,896.60 | ↓ -13% |
| Health Partners | Commercial | $2,052.00 | ↓ -6% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Group Health/True | $2,162.53 | ↓ -1% |
| Sanford Health Plan | SD Exchange Commercial | $2,231.21 | ↑ +2% |
| Medica | Choice | $2,257.20 | ↑ +3% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial + Top 20 | $2,284.56 | ↑ +4% |
| Wellmark | PPO | $2,352.96 | ↑ +8% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $2,377.58 | ↑ +9% |
| Ucare | Commercial | $2,403.85 | ↑ +10% |
| Medica | Elect | $2,413.15 | ↑ +10% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $2,462.40 | ↑ +13% |
| First Choice Health Network | Commercial | $2,462.40 | ↑ +13% |
| Healthez | Commercial | $2,462.40 | ↑ +13% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $2,462.40 | ↑ +13% |
| Sanford Health Plan | Commercial/ND Pers | $2,544.21 | ↑ +16% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Chest CT scan (without contrast) at other South-dakota hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford USD Medical Center | Sioux Falls | $2,569.60 | $48.73 – $2,890.80 |
| Sanford Hospital Webster | Webster | $2,095.20 | $822.37 – $2,357.10 |
| Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center | Chamberlain | $2,307.20 | $986.33 – $2,595.60 |
| Sanford Canton Inwood Medical Center | Canton | $2,054.40 | $878.26 – $2,311.20 |
| Sanford Vermillion Hospital | Vermillion | $1,888.00 | $696.20 – $2,124.00 |
| Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center | Aberdeen | $2,060.00 | $101.02 – $2,317.50 |