Upper GI Barium X-ray (barium and gas) 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

$928.00

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.

$1,160.00

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.

$364.24 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $1,044.00 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 $364.24 ↓ -61%
Wellmark SD Medicare Replacement $390.92 ↓ -58%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $390.92 ↓ -58%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $394.40 ↓ -58%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $394.40 ↓ -58%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $394.40 ↓ -58%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $394.40 ↓ -58%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $401.94 ↓ -57%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $635.56 ↓ -32%
Security Health Plan Commercial $638.00 ↓ -31%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/True $724.77 ↓ -22%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $747.74 ↓ -19%
Health Partners State Employees $765.60 ↓ -18%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $852.60 ↓ -8%
Health Partners Commercial $870.00 ↓ -6%
Medica Choice $957.00 ↑ +3%
United Healthcare Commercial + Top 20 $968.60 ↑ +4%
Wellmark PPO $997.60 ↑ +8%
Aetna Commercial $1,008.04 ↑ +9%
Ucare Commercial $1,019.18 ↑ +10%
Medica Elect $1,023.12 ↑ +10%
Healthez Commercial $1,044.00 ↑ +13%
Multiplan Commercial $1,044.00 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $1,044.00 ↑ +13%

Visitor-reported prices

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Upper GI Barium X-ray (barium and gas) at other South-dakota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford USD Medical Center Sioux Falls $1,072.80 $81.44 – $1,206.90
Sanford Vermillion Hospital Vermillion $910.40 $335.71 – $1,024.20
Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center Aberdeen $950.40 $169.12 – $1,069.20

All South-dakota hospitals for this procedure →