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Knee MRI (with contrast) at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center

836 West Wellington Avenue, Chicago, IL · Advocate Health · · NPI 1912014564

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Nov 4, 2025 · Ingested Aug 13, 2026

$1,810.00

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.

$3,620.00

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.

$1,096.00 with Cigna vs $2,496.26 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 →

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
Cigna Commercial $1,096.00 ↓ -39%
Cigna One Health Commercial $1,096.00 ↓ -39%
Advocate Employee Commercial $1,142.60 ↓ -37%
Ambetter Medicare Advantage $1,194.18 ↓ -34%
Molina Medicare Advantage $1,194.18 ↓ -34%
Oscar Health HMO Medicare Advantage $1,235.36 ↓ -32%
United Healthcare HMO $1,276.00 ↓ -30%
United Healthcare Charter Commercial $1,276.00 ↓ -30%
United Healthcare Core Navigate Commercial $1,276.00 ↓ -30%
United Healthcare Nexus Commercial $1,276.00 ↓ -30%
Private Healthcare Systems Commercial $1,566.00 ↓ -13%
HSTechnology Medicare Advantage $1,581.26 ↓ -13%
Aetna Commercial $1,613.00 ↓ -11%
Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago Commercial $2,193.41 ↑ +21%
Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Precision Managed Care $2,320.00 ↑ +28%
Multiplan Commercial $2,320.00 ↑ +28%
Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO $2,360.60 ↑ +30%
Blue Cross Blue Shield Choice Commercial $2,370.82 ↑ +31%
Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO $2,496.26 ↑ +38%

Visitor-reported prices

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Knee MRI (with contrast) at other Illinois hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Advocate Trinity Hospital Chicago $2,190.00 $1,096.00 – $2,800.00
MercyOne Genesis Silvis Medical Center Silvis $2,693.40 $396.64 – $3,022.00
MercyOne Genesis Aledo Medical Center Aledo $2,667.60 $877.31 – $1,393.55
Advocate Christ Medical Center Oak Lawn $1,640.00 $1,032.28 – $2,300.93
Advocate Condell Medical Center Libertyville $2,330.00 $1,096.00 – $2,984.00
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital Downers Grove $2,010.00 $1,096.00 – $2,568.00
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline Rock Island $4,520.28 $71.16 – $2,491.80
Advocate Childrens Hospital - Park Ridge Park Ridge $2,250.00 $1,096.00 – $2,880.00

All Illinois hospitals for this procedure →