Echo exam of fetal heart at Sanford USD Medical Center

1305 W 18th St, Sioux Falls, SD · Sanford Health · · NPI 1821017880

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

$1,863.20

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.

$2,329.00

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.

$244.52 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota vs $2,096.10 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
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota PMAP $244.52 ↓ -87%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $261.31 ↓ -86%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $261.31 ↓ -86%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $261.31 ↓ -86%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/True $261.31 ↓ -86%
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $520.89 ↓ -72%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $559.27 ↓ -70%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $564.75 ↓ -70%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $564.75 ↓ -70%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $564.75 ↓ -70%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Medicare Replacement $564.75 ↓ -70%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $564.75 ↓ -70%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $575.72 ↓ -69%
Ucare Medicaid Managed Care $578.19 ↓ -69%
Primewest Medicaid Managed Care $578.19 ↓ -69%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota State Employees $677.60 ↓ -64%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Commercial $693.86 ↓ -63%
Health Partners State Employees $780.22 ↓ -58%
Health Partners Commercial $908.31 ↓ -51%
Security Health Plan Commercial $1,280.95 ↓ -31%
United Healthcare CSP Top 20 $1,567.42 ↓ -16%
Medica Choice $1,569.75 ↓ -16%
Ucare Commercial $1,637.05 ↓ -12%
Medica Elect $1,679.21 ↓ -10%
Aetna Commercial $1,781.69 ↓ -4%
United Healthcare Commercial $2,051.85 ↑ +10%
Multiplan Commercial $2,096.10 ↑ +13%
Healthez Commercial $2,096.10 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $2,096.10 ↑ +13%
Wellmark HMO/PPO not published by hospital —

Visitor-reported prices

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Echo exam of fetal heart at other South-dakota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center Aberdeen $1,566.40 $520.89 – $1,762.20

All South-dakota hospitals for this procedure →