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Brain MRI (with and without contrast) at Sanford Hospital Webster

1401 W 1st St, Webster, SD · Sanford Health · · NPI 1831103449

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

$4,156.00

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.

$5,195.00

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.

$1,631.23 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $4,675.50 with Multiplan — 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 $1,631.23 ↓ -61%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $1,750.72 ↓ -58%
Wellmark SD Medicare Replacement $1,750.72 ↓ -58%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $1,766.30 ↓ -58%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $1,766.30 ↓ -58%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $1,766.30 ↓ -58%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $1,766.30 ↓ -58%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $1,800.07 ↓ -57%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $2,846.34 ↓ -32%
Security Health Plan Commercial $2,857.25 ↓ -31%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/True $3,245.84 ↓ -22%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $3,348.70 ↓ -19%
Health Partners State Employees $3,428.70 ↓ -18%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $3,818.33 ↓ -8%
Health Partners Commercial $3,896.25 ↓ -6%
Medica Choice $4,285.88 ↑ +3%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $4,337.83 ↑ +4%
Wellmark PPO $4,467.70 ↑ +8%
Aetna Commercial $4,514.46 ↑ +9%
Ucare Commercial $4,564.33 ↑ +10%
Medica Elect $4,581.99 ↑ +10%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $4,675.50 ↑ +13%
Healthez Commercial $4,675.50 ↑ +13%
Multiplan Commercial $4,675.50 ↑ +13%

Visitor-reported prices

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Brain MRI (with and without contrast) at other South-dakota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Clear Lake Medical Center Clear Lake $4,516.00 $1,215.50 – $5,080.50
Sanford USD Medical Center Sioux Falls $4,780.80 $170.46 – $5,378.40
Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center Chamberlain $3,860.00 $1,650.15 – $4,342.50
Sanford Canton Inwood Medical Center Canton $3,768.00 $1,610.82 – $4,239.00
Sanford Vermillion Hospital Vermillion $4,264.00 $1,572.35 – $4,797.00
Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center Aberdeen $3,904.80 $339.27 – $4,392.90

All South-dakota hospitals for this procedure →