Brain image 4+ views at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
836 West Wellington Avenue, Chicago, IL · Advocate Health · · NPI 1912014564
not published by hospital
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.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
not published by hospital
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$686.67 with Aetna vs $1,230.19 with Blue Cross Blue Shield — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
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 →
?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Commercial | $686.67 | — |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $813.60 | — |
| Ambetter | Medicare Advantage | $813.60 | — |
| Oscar Health HMO | Medicare Advantage | $841.66 | — |
| HSTechnology | Medicare Advantage | $1,077.32 | — |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago | Commercial | $1,080.94 | — |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Choice | Commercial | $1,168.37 | — |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | PPO | $1,230.19 | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Brain image 4+ views at other Illinois hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advocate Trinity Hospital | Chicago | $1,660.00 | $686.67 – $3,966.00 |
| Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago (Presence Chicago Hospital Network) | Chicago | not published | $179.07 – $1,492.21 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline | Rock Island | $433.60 | $23.20 – $418.75 |
| SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital - Mt. Vernon | Mount Vernon | $1,005.95 | $581.86 – $610.95 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Centralia | Centralia | $1,005.95 | $581.86 – $610.95 |
| MercyOne Genesis Silvis Medical Center | Silvis | not published | $363.22 – $841.66 |
| MercyOne Genesis Aledo Medical Center | Aledo | not published | $382.00 – $983.68 |
| Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth Hinsdale | Hinsdale | not published | $282.24 – $942.61 |