Brain image w/flow 4 + views at Advocate Sherman Hospital

1425 North Randall Road, Elgin, IL · Advocate Health · · NPI 1629026364

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

$1,180.00

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.

$2,360.00

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.

$785.60 with Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago vs $2,694.00 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 →

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
Blue Cross Blue Shield City of Chicago Commercial $785.60 ↓ -33%
Molina Medicare Advantage $813.60 ↓ -31%
Ambetter Medicare Advantage $813.60 ↓ -31%
Oscar Health HMO Medicare Advantage $841.66 ↓ -29%
Blue Cross Blue Shield Choice Commercial $848.90 ↓ -28%
Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO $893.58 ↓ -24%
Aetna Commercial $914.02 ↓ -23%
Advocate Employee Commercial $929.84 ↓ -21%
HSTechnology Medicare Advantage $1,077.32 ↓ -9%
Cigna One Health Commercial $1,227.20 ↑ +4%
Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Precision Managed Care $1,349.92 ↑ +14%
Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO $1,375.88 ↑ +17%
Cigna Commercial $1,557.60 ↑ +32%
Private Healthcare Systems Commercial $1,911.60 ↑ +62%
Multiplan Commercial $2,124.00 ↑ +80%
United Healthcare Charter Commercial $2,134.00 ↑ +81%
United Healthcare Core Navigate Commercial $2,359.00 ↑ +100%
United Healthcare Nexus Commercial $2,426.00 ↑ +106%
United Healthcare HMO $2,694.00 ↑ +128%

Visitor-reported prices

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Brain image w/flow 4 + views at other Illinois hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
MercyOne Genesis Silvis Medical Center Silvis $877.80 $363.22 – $1,345.96
Advocate Christ Medical Center Oak Lawn $1,180.00 $813.60 – $3,966.00
Advocate Condell Medical Center Libertyville $1,180.00 $813.60 – $2,595.00
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital Downers Grove $1,180.00 $813.60 – $3,966.00
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline Rock Island $1,145.12 $27.64 – $631.24
SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital - Mt. Vernon Mount Vernon $1,053.80 $581.86 – $610.95
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center Chicago $1,180.00 $813.60 – $3,966.00
Advocate Childrens Hospital - Park Ridge Park Ridge $1,180.00 $813.60 – $3,966.00

All Illinois hospitals for this procedure →