Sterile water/saline, 10 ml at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital
4201 Medical Center Drive, McHenry, IL · Nm · · NPI 1427065499
$33.60
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.
$48.00
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.
$0.63 with AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] vs $3.25 with BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD [1401] — 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 HEALTH PLAN [171] | NWR AETNA NM EMPLOYEES | $0.63 | ↓ -98% |
| CIGNA HEALTH PLAN [178] | NWR CIGNA ALTERNATIVE | $0.64 | ↓ -98% |
| MERCY CARE HEALTH PLANS [5013] | NWR MERCY CARE | $0.99 | ↓ -97% |
| CIGNA HEALTH PLAN [178] | NWR CIGNA BROAD | $1.00 | ↓ -97% |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NWR AETNA APCN/SP | $1.12 | ↓ -97% |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NWR AETNA IL PREFERRED | $1.15 | ↓ -97% |
| ALTERNATE BLUE CROSS [1402] | NWR BCBS HMO | $1.16 | ↓ -97% |
| BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD [1401] | NWR BCBS HMO | $1.16 | ↓ -97% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE [158] | NWR UHC CORE | $1.54 | ↓ -95% |
| HEALTHLINK [125] | NWR SEIU HEALTHLINK | $1.63 | ↓ -95% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE [158] | NWR UHC HMO/PPO | $1.71 | ↓ -95% |
| CHOICECARE [177] | NWR CHOICE CARE | $1.73 | ↓ -95% |
| MULTIPLAN/PHCS [142] | NWR PHCS PPO | $2.05 | ↓ -94% |
| THE ALLIANCE [1703] | NWR THE ALLIANCE | $2.09 | ↓ -94% |
| HEALTH'S FINEST NETWORK [126] | NWR HFN PLATINUM EPO | $2.28 | ↓ -93% |
| HEALTH'S FINEST NETWORK [126] | NWR HFN PPO | $2.37 | ↓ -93% |
| CIGNA HEALTH PLAN [178] | NWR CIGNA BEHAVORIAL BHS | $2.44 | ↓ -93% |
| BEECHSTREET [176] | NWR BEECHSTREET | $2.60 | ↓ -92% |
| MULTIPLAN/PHCS [142] | NWR NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $3.25 | ↓ -90% |
| BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD [1401] | NWR BCBS PAR/INDEMNITY ADP | $3.25 | ↓ -90% |
| ALTERNATE HUMANA MEDICARE ADV [2409] | NWR HUMANA MEDICARE ADVT | not published by hospital | — |
| ALTERNATE BLUE CROSS MEDICARE ADV [2304] | NWR BLUE CROSS MEDICARE ADVT | not published by hospital | — |
| GLOBAL EXCEL [1712] | NWR MEDICARE | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Sterile water/saline, 10 ml at other Illinois hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline | Rock Island | $1.20 | $0.31 – $3.36 |
| Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital | Geneva | $69.47 | not published |
| Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital | Palos Heights | $16.80 | not published |
| Northwestern Medicine Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital | Wheaton | $7.52 | not published |
| Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital DBA Northwestern Medicine Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital | Lake Forest | $47.25 | not published |
| MercyOne Genesis Aledo Medical Center | Aledo | not published | $2.00 – $2.00 |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Oak Lawn | not published | $0.77 – $1.02 |
| Advocate Condell Medical Center | Libertyville | not published | $0.77 – $1.02 |