Contrast x-ray of knee joint at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
836 West Wellington Avenue, Chicago, IL · Advocate Health · · NPI 1912014564
$885.00
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.
$1,770.00
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.
$220.00 with United Healthcare Charter vs $1,440.78 with Blue Cross 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Healthcare Charter | Commercial | $220.00 | ↓ -75% |
| United Healthcare Nexus | Commercial | $293.00 | ↓ -67% |
| Cigna One Health | Commercial | $360.08 | ↓ -59% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $360.08 | ↓ -59% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $477.50 | ↓ -46% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $539.81 | ↓ -39% |
| Ambetter | Medicare Advantage | $539.81 | ↓ -39% |
| United Healthcare Core Navigate | Commercial | $549.00 | ↓ -38% |
| Oscar Health HMO | Medicare Advantage | $558.42 | ↓ -37% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $634.00 | ↓ -28% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago | Commercial | $681.83 | ↓ -23% |
| Advocate Employee | Commercial | $697.38 | ↓ -21% |
| HSTechnology | Medicare Advantage | $714.78 | ↓ -19% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Choice | Commercial | $736.98 | ↓ -17% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | PPO | $775.97 | ↓ -12% |
| Private Healthcare Systems | Commercial | $955.80 | ↑ +8% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $1,416.00 | ↑ +60% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Precision | Managed Care | $1,416.00 | ↑ +60% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | HMO | $1,440.78 | ↑ +63% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Contrast x-ray of knee joint at other Illinois hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago (Presence Chicago Hospital Network) | Chicago | $719.40 | $88.99 – $828.27 |
| Advocate Trinity Hospital | Chicago | not published | $360.08 – $770.96 |
| MercyOne Genesis Silvis Medical Center | Silvis | $442.20 | $114.38 – $521.19 |
| Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth Hinsdale | Hinsdale | $231.25 | $135.84 – $605.65 |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Oak Lawn | $885.00 | $220.00 – $1,416.00 |
| Advocate Condell Medical Center | Libertyville | $885.00 | $195.00 – $1,416.00 |
| Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital | Downers Grove | $885.00 | $220.00 – $1,416.00 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline | Rock Island | $609.44 | $27.65 – $335.95 |