Assay of breath ethanol at Advocate Sherman Hospital
1425 North Randall Road, Elgin, IL · Advocate Health · · NPI 1629026364
$42.50
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.
$85.00
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.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$23.33 with Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago vs $136.91 with Cigna — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago | Commercial | $23.33 | ↓ -45% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Choice | Commercial | $25.21 | ↓ -41% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | PPO | $26.54 | ↓ -38% |
| United Healthcare | HMO | $30.00 | ↓ -29% |
| United Healthcare Charter | Commercial | $30.00 | ↓ -29% |
| United Healthcare Nexus | Commercial | $30.00 | ↓ -29% |
| United Healthcare Core Navigate | Commercial | $30.00 | ↓ -29% |
| Advocate Employee | Commercial | $33.49 | ↓ -21% |
| Ambetter | Medicare Advantage | $43.50 | ↑ +2% |
| Molina | Medicare Advantage | $43.50 | ↑ +2% |
| Oscar Health HMO | Medicare Advantage | $45.00 | ↑ +6% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Precision | Managed Care | $48.62 | ↑ +14% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | HMO | $49.56 | ↑ +17% |
| Aetna | Commercial | $53.87 | ↑ +27% |
| HSTechnology | Medicare Advantage | $57.60 | ↑ +36% |
| Private Healthcare Systems | Commercial | $68.85 | ↑ +62% |
| Multiplan | Commercial | $76.50 | ↑ +80% |
| Cigna One Health | Commercial | $136.91 | ↑ +222% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $136.91 | ↑ +222% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Assay of breath ethanol at other Illinois hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MercyOne Genesis Aledo Medical Center | Aledo | $22.80 | $16.65 – $17.39 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline | Rock Island | $72.14 | $3.50 – $48.00 |
| SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital - Mt. Vernon | Mount Vernon | $47.30 | $30.00 – $31.50 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Centralia | Centralia | $47.30 | $30.00 – $31.50 |
| Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago (Presence Chicago Hospital Network) | Chicago | $39.60 | $0.02 – $125.32 |
| MercyOne Genesis Silvis Medical Center | Silvis | not published | $11.24 – $11.24 |
| Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth Hinsdale | Hinsdale | not published | $13.55 – $48.60 |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Oak Lawn | not published | $30.00 – $136.91 |