Illinois gets F grade for State Price transparency for Healthcare prices.Hip surgery price can vary by 12000$.Colonoscopy

State legislation of 2014 was supposed to help consumers for comparing healthcare prices. New Hampshire,Colorado,Maine,Vermont,Virginia did well ,but Illinois did poorly with F grade.Beckers hospital review,modern healthcare,NPR and others have written articles about the status of each state’s efforts.

So what do you do? For Hip replacement--John Tozzi of Bloomberg’s article,”Thirty Cities where the price of a New Hip can double across Town” can give you data for Chicago as a starting point.For your ZIP code--you may have to do some Calling yourself if you don’t want to travel more than 10 miles.

Other articles mention Healthcare Bluebook or Castlight Healthcare.We tried both.Castlight wants you to pay an annual fees.Bluebook’s data is terrible--gives you FAIR PRICE--but many don’t go by Fair price.So you have to Call around yourself.

Matt Lauer suggested traveling to Oregon--as one person from Chicago did--ending up spending close to 2000$ with 2 days off from work. This person could have gone to American Colonoscopy and Endoscopy Center in Geneva,Il.- 630 232 2025 and saved money as well as hassle of 2 days off from work. Their GI doctor is trained at #2 -The Cleveland Clinic-in America- US News & World report annual ratings. As per Illinois laws,a certified Anesthesiologist and a nurse is on duty during the procedure.

So call 630 232 2025 and others to Compare prices yourself.