Why is the cheapest hospital for cataract surgery in Chicago so much less than the most expensive?

Hospitals set their own cash-pay prices and they vary widely even inside the same metro. The price shown is each hospital's own posted cash rate from its federal transparency file, not an estimate. Facility type matters: ambulatory surgery centers usually cost less than hospital outpatient departments. Bundling matters too: some posted prices include both the physician and facility fees, others post the facility charge alone and the physician bills separately. Cash-pay rates also tend to be lower than billed charges or insurance-negotiated rates, but each hospital publishes them differently.

Is the lowest cash price always the best choice for Cataract Surgery?

Not always. Cash-pay rates are real numbers, but they should not be the only factor. Quality scores, distance, whether the price is bundled, and whether your physician has admitting privileges all matter. Use this list as a starting point, then call the hospital for a Good Faith Estimate in writing under the No Surprises Act before you commit.

How current is this pricing data?

Updated September 2026. We download every hospital's Machine-Readable File on a monthly cycle and republish the cash-pay rate after we parse it. The "Updated" date at the top of the page and on each row reflect when we last pulled fresh data from the source. If a price has changed since then, our next monthly run will catch it.

How does the cash price compare to what I would pay with insurance?

It depends on the procedure, the hospital, and your plan. Cash-pay rates are often lower than billed charges but can be either higher or lower than what your insurance has negotiated. The honest comparison: call your insurer and ask for the in-network negotiated rate for the specific procedure code, then put it next to the cash-pay price here. If your deductible is unmet and the cash price is lower, paying cash and skipping the claim can save money.

What about hospital quality, not just price?

Price and quality are separate questions. CMS publishes hospital-level quality data (readmission rates, complication rates, patient experience scores) at qualitycheck.cms.gov, and Leapfrog publishes safety grades at hospitalsafetygrade.org. We surface price; cross-reference against those two sources before you choose. For most outpatient procedures the quality variance inside a single metro is smaller than the price variance, but it is never zero.

How does ProcedureRadar source these prices?

We download the Machine-Readable File each hospital is required to publish under 45 CFR Part 180 (the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule), parse it monthly, normalize the billing codes to plain English, and surface the cash-discount price. We link to the raw file on every row so you can verify the price yourself.

Updated September 2026 · 15 hospitals reporting a cash price

Top 10 Most Affordable Hospitals for Cataract Surgery in Chicago (2026)

Direct answer

For cataract surgery in Chicago, the 10 most affordable hospitals have median cash prices from $1,143 to $11,493. Across all 15 hospitals reporting a cash price, the median cash price is $5,059. Every price below is a hospital's own median cash price from its federally mandated transparency file, refreshed monthly.

What this price includes: This is the hospital's actual posted cash price from its federal transparency file (45 CFR Part 180), not an estimate. As with any hospital price, the physician performing or interpreting the procedure may bill separately, so confirm what's included when you book.

By Kevin Monangai, Founder, ProcedureRadar.

See the cheapest hospital Get price-change alerts

#	Hospital	Confidence	Cash price	Source
1	Osf Saint Elizabeth Medical Center MRF updated Mar 2026	Moderate	$1,143	MRF file
2	University Of Illinois Hospital MRF updated Aug 2025	Low	$1,208	MRF file
3	Osf Saint Clare Medical Center MRF updated Jan 2026	Low	$1,524	MRF file
4	Osf Saint Paul Medical Center MRF updated Jan 2026	Low	$1,524	MRF file
5	Carle Eureka Hospital	Low	$2,480	MRF file
6	INSIGHT HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER CHICAGO MRF updated Jun 2026	Low	$2,800	MRF file
7	St Bernard Hospital MRF updated Apr 2026	Low	$3,569	MRF file
8	Jackson Park Hospital	Low	$5,059	MRF file
9	Northwestern Memorial Hospital MRF updated Apr 2026	High	$6,722	MRF file
10	Northwestern Medicine Mchenry Hospital MRF updated Apr 2026	High	$11,493	MRF file

Showing the 10 most affordable hospitals by median cash price, out of 15 reporting a cash price in Chicago, Illinois. Updated September 2026.

For providers

Run a cataract surgery program in Chicago?

We are opening a Featured Listings slot at the top of this page for ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, and direct-pay clinics that publish honest cash prices. Limited to one provider per procedure-and-metro. Email [email protected] if you want first look.

Your next step

Call Osf Saint Elizabeth Medical Center and ask for a Good Faith Estimate in writing. Reference the cash price shown above as your starting point. Under the No Surprises Act, every hospital is required to give you one. Pick a second hospital from this list as your backup before the call, so you have a price to negotiate against.

See Osf Saint Elizabeth Medical Center

Get notified when these prices change

We refresh this list every month from the source files. Drop your email and we will send a short note the next time the cheapest cash-pay price in Chicago for cataract surgery moves more than 10%, or when a new hospital reports a lower number. No newsletter, no marketing, one purpose. Unsubscribe is a single click in every email.

Also shopping in Chicago?

Cataract Surgery in other metros

Most cost guides just tell you what something usually costs. We thought it was more useful to actually rank the 10 cheapest hospitals near you, head-to-head. Each ranked page pulls live cash-discount prices from federally mandated transparency files for one procedure in one metro, refreshed monthly, drawn from the more than 2,000 hospitals where we have published prices. Same data we use everywhere, just sorted the way most people want to read it.
Kevin Monangai, Founder of ProcedureRadar

Common questions

How we sourced these prices

Every price on this page comes from a Machine-Readable File each hospital is required to publish under 45 CFR Part 180. We refresh the data monthly, normalize the billing codes to plain English, and link back to the raw file on each row. If a price looks off, click the MRF link and check it yourself. The full methodology white-paper documents how we handle severity distributions, confidence intervals, and data quality scoring.

Building a healthcare product that needs procedure-pricing data at scale? See our B2B API tiers.

Pricing data sourced from federally mandated hospital Machine-Readable Files.

Disclosure required by 45 CFR Part 180.

Osf Saint Elizabeth Medical Center MRF (March 31, 2026)
University Of Illinois Hospital MRF (August 1, 2025)
Osf Saint Clare Medical Center MRF (January 1, 2026)
Osf Saint Paul Medical Center MRF (January 1, 2026)
Carle Eureka Hospital MRF (September 1, 2026)

Last updated: September 1, 2026

Prices shown are sourced from publicly available hospital pricing files required by federal law (45 CFR Part 180). Actual costs may vary based on your insurance plan, specific diagnosis, treatment complexity, and other factors. ProcedureRadar does not provide medical advice. This information is for comparison purposes only. Contact the hospital or your insurance provider for a personalized cost estimate.