Patient Charges and Costs
You're more than just a label on a bill. UnityPoint Health wants to provide you with the information you need to keep your health on point. These price transparency resources include information about our charges, your costs and financial assistance that may be available to you. We want to deliver easier, more personal care to you and your family.
Options to Estimate Your Health Care Costs
When you need our services, you may wonder how much your care will cost. Here are several ways to get the information you need:
1. Contact your insurance provider
If you have health insurance, it is best to first contact your insurance provider.
Why? Many insurance providers offer price estimates for your out-of-pocket costs based on your plan's specific benefits. Also, your insurance provider may be able to estimate the cost for all your care – including not only hospital charges but also physician charges and other associated charges, such as therapy. Your insurance provider may also have information to help you compare price and quality measures for all the healthcare providers available to you in your plan.
2. Request a personalized cost estimate from UnityPoint Health
UnityPoint Health personalized out-of-pocket cost estimates (price estimates) are available based on your specific planned services and your insurance plan. To request a cost estimate, just call (833) 23-PRICE. Or you may request a cost estimate using our secure online form.
Why? We are committed to providing you with information about your estimated out-of-pocket cost as you make health care decisions. UnityPoint Health has agreements with many insurance companies that determine the amount we are paid. Our Financial Clearance team will verify your insurance coverage and benefits, including your plan's required co-payments, deductible cost, co-insurance and maximum out-of-pocket cost specified in your plan. We can also discuss your payment options.
3. Use the My UnityPoint cost estimator tool
Self-service cost estimates (price estimates) for many common non-emergency procedures and services are now available. UnityPoint Health has a new user-friendly tool to help estimate your likely out-of-pocket costs for many common health care procedures (for example, abdominal surgery, joint surgery, obstetric care) and services (such as CT, MRI or ultrasound imaging or laboratory services). The tool is available both online and as part of MyUnityPoint, our patient portal.
Why? Having a general idea of your costs for a variety of common types of healthcare procedures and services (such as medical imaging and laboratory costs) through a self-service tool may be useful to you as you plan for upcoming non-emergency care. This self-service price estimating tool is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
4. Request financial assistance
If you are not insured or think you will need help paying your bill, please call (844)-909-2400.
Why? UnityPoint Health has financial assistance policies to assist patients who cannot pay for some or all the care they receive. Our Financial Counselors can also help determine if you are eligible for other coverage or benefits.
Price Transparency Resource - Hospital Charge Information (Chargemaster and DRG Files)
Important Note: The hospital charges shown in the links below do not represent your payments, or any specific/individual patient responsibility. Your financial responsibility will vary depending on your health insurance plan. There may be additional fees for physicians and provider services not reflected in these tables, which would be billed separately from your hospital bill.
Waterloo current hospital charges in effect December 31, 2022:
Note: These are lengthy documents. Please review the information prior to printing items of interest.
Waterloo current hospital Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) average charges for calendar year 2022:
Note: Diagnosis-related groups (DRG) are a classification system that standardizes prospective payment to hospitals and encourages cost containment initiatives. In general, a DRG payment covers all charges associated with an inpatient stay from the time of admission to discharge, as well as any services performed by an outside provider.
Price Transparency Resource - Hospital Charge Information (All Payer File)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires hospitals to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file (MRF) with pricing for all items and services by insurance payer on their web site. This machine-readable file is not necessarily intended for direct patient interpretation. This information has been compiled from our billing, claims, and insurance payment files.
Use the link or links below to open the files for the hospitals in this region:
No Surprise Billing
When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are now protected from surprise billing or balance billing.
"Out-of-network" means providers and facilities that haven't signed a contract with your health plan.
Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called "balance billing." This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.
"Surprise billing" is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can't control who is involved in your care — like when you have an emergency, or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.
Please open the document below, in English and Spanish, to learn more about how you are protected from surprise medical bills, and who to contact if you believe you've been wrongly billed.
Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills (English and Spanish)
State Hospital Charge Comparisons
You may also view comparative hospital average charge information at state hospital association websites. UnityPoint Health will continue to provide this useful information for health care consumers.
Providing Timely and Understandable Charge and Cost Information is Important to Us
UnityPoint Health is continually working to improve how we share information about our charges and the cost of your care. As you plan your health care needs, be sure to use all the resources on this page and also reach out to your insurance provider.