Fern test at Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago (Presence Chicago Hospital Network)
2900 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL · Ascension · · NPI 1679659585
$31.02
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.
$94.00
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.
$9.74 with UHC INDIVIDUAL EXCHANGE vs $21.96 with BCBS PPO — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UHC INDIVIDUAL EXCHANGE | 3099_JCIL UHC IP INDIVIDUAL EXCHANGE 20250701 | $9.74 | ↓ -69% |
| UHC CHOICE | 3095_PFIL, PRIL, PSIL UNITED HEALTHCARE 20250701 | $9.74 | ↓ -69% |
| UHC PPO | 3096_PFIL, PRIL, PSIL UNITED HEALTHCARE OPTIONS PPO 20250701 | $9.74 | ↓ -69% |
| UHC INDIVIDUAL EXCHANGE | 3100_JCIL UHC OP INDIVIDUAL EXCHANGE 20250701 | $9.74 | ↓ -69% |
| AETNA | 2925_JCIL AETNA 20250201 | $12.22 | ↓ -61% |
| IMAGINE HEALTH | 2828_IMAGINE HEALTH (JCIL) 20241001 | $14.12 | ↓ -54% |
| IMAGINE HEALTH | 2829_IMAGINE HEALTH (PHIL) 20241001 | $14.12 | ↓ -54% |
| IMAGINE HEALTH | 2830_IMAGINE HEALTH 20241001 | $14.12 | ↓ -54% |
| BCBS BCS | 2832_JCIL BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD BCS 20241001 | $14.85 | ↓ -52% |
| BCBS BCE | 2879_JCIL BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD BCE 20241001 | $14.85 | ↓ -52% |
| CIGNA ONE HEALTH | 2826_CIGNA ONE HEALTH 20241001 | $15.95 | ↓ -49% |
| BCBS PPO | 2834_JCIL BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD PPO 20241001 | $21.96 | ↓ -29% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Fern test at other Illinois hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center | Chicago | $32.50 | $9.74 – $52.00 |
| Advocate Trinity Hospital | Chicago | $32.50 | $9.74 – $52.00 |
| Advocate Childrens Hospital - Park Ridge | Park Ridge | $32.50 | $9.74 – $52.00 |
| Advocate Sherman Hospital | Elgin | $32.50 | $9.74 – $58.50 |
| Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth Hinsdale | Hinsdale | not published | $8.05 – $15.78 |
| Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth La Grange | La Grange | not published | $7.73 – $15.78 |
| SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital - Mt. Vernon | Mount Vernon | not published | $9.74 – $10.23 |
| Advocate South Suburban Hospital | Hazel Crest | not published | $9.74 – $44.64 |