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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) X-ray at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
836 West Wellington Avenue, Chicago, IL · Advocate Health · · NPI 1912014564
$335.00
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.
$670.00
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.
$130.42 with Aetna vs $634.00 with United Healthcare — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna | Commercial | $130.42 | ↓ -61% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $132.40 | ↓ -60% |
| Cigna One Health | Commercial | $132.40 | ↓ -60% |
| Ambetter | Medicare Advantage | $160.73 | ↓ -52% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $160.73 | ↓ -52% |
| Oscar Health HMO | Medicare Advantage | $166.28 | ↓ -50% |
| HSTechnology | Medicare Advantage | $212.83 | ↓ -36% |
| United Healthcare Charter | Commercial | $220.00 | ↓ -34% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago | Commercial | $220.34 | ↓ -34% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Choice | Commercial | $238.17 | ↓ -29% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | PPO | $250.77 | ↓ -25% |
| Advocate Employee | Commercial | $263.98 | ↓ -21% |
| United Healthcare Nexus | Commercial | $293.00 | ↓ -13% |
| Private Healthcare Systems | Commercial | $361.80 | ↑ +8% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Precision | Managed Care | $536.00 | ↑ +60% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $536.00 | ↑ +60% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | HMO | $545.38 | ↑ +63% |
| United Healthcare Core Navigate | Commercial | $549.00 | ↑ +64% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $634.00 | ↑ +89% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) X-ray at other Illinois hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advocate Trinity Hospital | Chicago | $385.00 | $130.42 – $634.00 |
| MercyOne Genesis Silvis Medical Center | Silvis | $257.40 | $54.71 – $349.64 |
| MercyOne Genesis Aledo Medical Center | Aledo | $257.40 | $60.00 – $201.63 |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Oak Lawn | $255.00 | $130.42 – $634.00 |
| Advocate Condell Medical Center | Libertyville | $400.00 | $130.42 – $640.00 |
| Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital | Downers Grove | $452.50 | $130.42 – $724.00 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline | Rock Island | $514.23 | $9.92 – $283.47 |
| Advocate Sherman Hospital | Elgin | $310.00 | $103.07 – $558.00 |