Bill of Health

We priced

Lower back X-ray

A standard X-ray series of the lower spine, at least four views.

37 hospitals · 139 published rates Cheapest $17.46 · dearest $1,039.20

Sorted cheapest first. A published figure that behaves like a placeholder rather than a real price — one cent, or a figure orders of magnitude below what other hospitals publish for the same billing code — never leads this order. It stays listed, after every other figure, ordered by its own amount among the others like it.

Nothing was excluded: none of the figures published here behave like a placeholder rather than a price.

See these on a map →

Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago (Presence Chicago Hospital Network)
6 published rates
$44.12 – $367.69
negotiated rate
MacNeal Hospital Gottlieb Community Health Services Corporation
Berwyn 6 published rates
$114.18 – $135.46
negotiated rate
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Chicago 2 published rates
$178.53
negotiated rate
Advocate Childrens Hospital - Oak Lawn
Oak Lawn 2 published rates
$178.53
negotiated rate
Northwestern Medicine Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital
Wheaton 2 published rates
$416 – $499.20
negotiated rate
Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital
Geneva 1 published rate
$1,039.20
negotiated rate

Comparisons against other hospitals were computed on 2 November 2026. Each price carries its own fetch date; a comparison is a snapshot of what other hospitals had published when it ran, not a standing fact.

Why a range? One insurer publishes different rates for different plans at the same hospital — a PPO and an HMO under the same name can differ several times over. We show what the hospital published rather than collapsing it into a single number that might not be yours.