Illinois gets F grade for Price Transparency for Health Care Costs to help Patients choose wisely.

State Price transparency laws based on 2014 legislation has produced F grade for Illinois.New Hampshire got A grade,Colorado,Maine got B grade,Vermont and Virginia received C grade according to articles by Beckers hospital review,modern health care,NPR and many other reporters working for different media.Hospitals resistance to providing Medical procedures prices is pretty bad in Illinois and some surgical facilities are owned by doctors who try to send patients to their facility.

Consumers/Patients have difficult time getting Price estimates before getting the procedure and that hurts people with HIGH DEDUCTIBLE insurance policies that has grown sharply as the premiums have risen sharply in last 2 years.

John Tozzi of Bloomberg wrote an article comparing prices by different providers for a New Hip in 30 cities.Prices varied by 100%--12000$ within 15 miles area.

NPR article had over 50 comments by Patients--many talked about MRI price variations that they experienced.

There was a article as well as NBC Today show with Matt Lauer,where he talked about the experience of a Chicago resident-who found average estimate of 3500$ when he called around.So he found one doctor in Oregon who charged under 1000$,so he traveled there for his Colonoscopy .With his travel costs,time off,he still saved money.

Same is true for Colonoscopy facility fee in our area.

Tricities Surgical center prices are far higher for facility fees than American Colonoscopy Center-both located a block away. American Colonoscopy and Endoscopy Center has significantly Lower Prices.So you don’t have to travel.However,Illinois requires the presence of a certified anesthesiologist,whereas Oregon does not.But having a Anesthesiologist can be helpful and adds to Patient’s safety .American Colonoscopy prices are very competitive,so you don’t have to travel by Air-just drive a car to this facility located next to Geneva Commons.

Call American Colonoscopy and Endoscopy Center-630 232 2025-- their GI doctor is trained at the #2 rated The Cleveland Clinic with MD from Johns Hopkins Univ. Medical School.

This facility is JCAHO certified and a certified anesthesiologist and a nurse is on duty during the procedures.

References: John Tozzi,”Thirty cities where the price of a New Hip can double across town.” Google it and if need be contact him by e mail-to provide data for your ZIP code. He told us that for MRI ,Colonoscopy,there is not good data available.He will tell you,how he got his data from 4 insurance co.Now PL.note that the price TODAY-may be different.

Other writers make reference to Healthcare Blue Book or Healthcare Cast light. We checked Healthcare BlueBook for 60134 ZIP,60174 ZIP code. For 60134 ZIP code,they do not show Delnor Hospital or Tricities Surgical center,but a hospital 40 miles away and a surgical facility 35 miles away-whose prices have tripled since their acquisition.For St.Charles,Il.,they give GUIDANCE for Fair price. That price will get you in trouble--because after the procedure,the facilities will hold you liable for higher fees. Healthcare Bluebook has a couple of inexperienced people--they are OK in designing websites,but not good in getting data.Insurance co.do not release the data easily. As far as Castlight Healthcare,you or your employer has to pay annual fees.

Other websites show incorrect data.

Also note-- that some show data for GI Doctors fees--but not Facility Fees.There is one website that shows Facility fee price-but that may be LIST PRICE. List Price are generally very high.

BEST OPTION: CALL YOURSELF.