Fern test at Aurora West Allis Medical Center
8901 W Lincoln Ave, West Allis, WI · Aurorahealthcare · · NPI 1407801640
$22.50
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$45.00
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.
$7.79 with United Healthcare vs $38.25 with Anthem — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Healthcare | HMO | $7.79 | ↓ -65% |
| United Healthcare | Exchange | $7.79 | ↓ -65% |
| United Healthcare | Charter | $7.79 | ↓ -65% |
| United Healthcare | Nexus | $7.79 | ↓ -65% |
| Aurora Caregiver | Commercial | $9.74 | ↓ -57% |
| Anthem | Blue Priority | $9.74 | ↓ -57% |
| Anthem | Blue Preferred | $11.69 | ↓ -48% |
| Common Ground | Exchange | $20.45 | ↓ -9% |
| Common Ground | Employee Trust Fund | $20.45 | ↓ -9% |
| Everpointe Elite | Commercial | $21.11 | ↓ -6% |
| Common Ground | Envision | $21.29 | ↓ -5% |
| Centivo | Commercial | $21.29 | ↓ -5% |
| Aetna | HMO | $21.72 | ↓ -3% |
| Quartz One | Commercial | $24.35 | ↑ +8% |
| Health Payment Systems | Commercial | $24.35 | ↑ +8% |
| HealthPartners | Employee Trust Fund | $25.83 | ↑ +15% |
| Molina Exchange | Commercial | $26.88 | ↑ +19% |
| Health EOS Plus | Commercial | $27.00 | ↑ +20% |
| HS Technology | Commercial | $27.41 | ↑ +22% |
| Quartz Group | Commercial | $28.25 | ↑ +26% |
| Cigna | PPO-GPPO | $28.68 | ↑ +27% |
| Wisconsin Physician Service | Aurora Featured | $31.56 | ↑ +40% |
| HealthPartners | Robin | $33.06 | ↑ +47% |
| Wisconsin Physician Service | Statewide | $33.21 | ↑ +48% |
| Wisconsin Physician Service | Arise | $33.21 | ↑ +48% |
| HealthPartners | Broad | $33.75 | ↑ +50% |
| Trilogy | Commercial | $34.18 | ↑ +52% |
| Health EOS | PPO | $36.00 | ↑ +60% |
| Aetna | PPO | $37.17 | ↑ +65% |
| United Healthcare | PPO | $37.89 | ↑ +68% |
| Cigna | PPO | $38.07 | ↑ +69% |
| Anthem | PPO | $38.25 | ↑ +70% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Fern test at other Wisconsin hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Milwaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) | Milwaukee | $18.02 | $10.23 – $30.48 |
| Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital - Ozaukee Campus (Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Inc.) | Mequon | $18.02 | $10.23 – $30.48 |
| SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Baraboo | Baraboo | $62.70 | $7.30 – $71.16 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Janesville | Janesville | $76.45 | $7.30 – $56.92 |
| SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Madison | Madison | $59.95 | $7.30 – $58.22 |
| Aurora Sinai Medical Center of Aurora Health Care Metro | Milwaukee | $22.50 | $7.79 – $34.18 |
| Aurora Medical Center Summit | Summit | $22.50 | $7.79 – $34.18 |
| Aurora Baycare Medical Center | Green Bay | $22.50 | $7.79 – $34.18 |