Brain MRI (with contrast) at UnityPoint Health - Meriter Hospital
202 South Park Street, Madison, WI · UnityPoint Health · · NPI 1114920048
$2,647.06
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.
$3,308.82
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.
$78.55 with Aspirus vs $3,143.38 with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aspirus | Medicare Advantage | $78.55 | ↓ -97% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare Advantage | $78.55 | ↓ -97% |
| IlliniCare | Medicare Advantage | $78.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Medicare Advantage | $78.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Prevea 360 | Medicare Advantage | $78.55 | ↓ -97% |
| Humana | Medicare Advantage | $82.48 | ↓ -97% |
| MeridianCare | Medicare Advantage | $82.48 | ↓ -97% |
| Health Partners Open Network | Commercial | $172.53 | ↓ -93% |
| United Healthcare | Commercial | $200.69 | ↓ -92% |
| Medical Associates Health Plan | HMO/POS/PPO | $260.00 | ↓ -90% |
| Aspirus | PPO | $761.03 | ↓ -71% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $992.65 | ↓ -62% |
| Security Health Plan | HMO/POS/SAS | $1,025.73 | ↓ -61% |
| Quartz | HMO | $1,032.35 | ↓ -61% |
| Mercy Care | HMO/POS | $1,098.53 | ↓ -58% |
| Aspirus | HMO/POS | $1,191.18 | ↓ -55% |
| Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Blue Priority/Pathway | $1,318.00 | ↓ -50% |
| Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | HMO/POS | $1,464.00 | ↓ -45% |
| Wellmark UPH Self-Funded | Commercial | $1,910.18 | ↓ -28% |
| Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | PPO | $1,910.18 | ↓ -28% |
| Prevea 360 | Commercial | $2,812.50 | ↑ +6% |
| Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Traditional | $3,143.38 | ↑ +19% |
| Dean Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
| GHC - South Central WI | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
| My Choice | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
| Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
| United Healthcare | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
| GHC | HMO | not published by hospital | — |
| GHC - Eau Claire | Managed Medicaid | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain MRI (with contrast) at other Wisconsin hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Madison | Madison | $2,563.00 | $254.15 – $1,865.70 |
| Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Milwaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) | Milwaukee | $2,613.96 | $139.93 – $828.27 |
| Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Ozaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) | Mequon | $2,613.96 | $139.93 – $828.27 |
| SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Baraboo | Baraboo | $2,415.05 | $254.15 – $2,477.87 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Janesville | Janesville | $2,251.70 | $263.55 – $1,778.23 |
| SSM Health Monroe Hospital | Monroe | $2,354.00 | $338.87 – $610.18 |
| SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital | Ripon | $1,755.60 | $763.03 – $763.03 |
| SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital - Fond du Lac | Fond Du Lac | $1,755.60 | $258.81 – $665.99 |