See What Skokie Hospital Billed Medicare for Common Treatements

When a patient arrives at Skokie Hospital needing treatment for diabetes, the hospital bills Medicare $22,734, while nearby St. Francis Hospital bills Medicare $29,069 and Evanston Hospital bills $19,896 for the same treatment, according to a massive federal database of national health care costs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services made public Wednesday.

On average Skokie Hospital bills Medicare less than the U.S. average, similar to Evanston Hospital, but nearby St. Francis Hospital bills one to two times more than the U.S. average for treatments, according to a database compiled by New York Times, which is searchable by ZIP code or state.

For the first time people can see in detail how much the vast majority of American hospitals charged for the top 100 most common procedures billed to Medicare. The database covers claims filed within fiscal year 2011 and includes 163,065 individual charges recorded at 3,337 hospitals in 306 metropolitan areas, Huffington Post reported. 

Illinois hospitals on average charged about the same as the national average for procedures such as major lower joint replacement, pneumonia, breathing problem with ventilator, chest pain and heart failure, according to the database compiled by Washington Post, which is searchable by state. 

The University of Chicago Medical Center and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital had some of the highest prices for treatments among Chicago-area hospitals in 2011, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. 

Here’s a look at how much hospitals charged for common treatments: 

Type of Treatment

Hospital Name

Number of Cases

Avg. Amount Billed Medicare

Avg. Amount Paid by Medicare

Major Joint Replacement

Skokie Hospital

279

$50,086

$15,112

Evanston Hospital

836

$50,087

$15,342

St. Francis Hospital

107

$65,056

$20,444

Diabetes

Skokie Hospital

28

$22,734

$5,604

Evanston Hospital

59

$19,896

$5,941

St. Francis Hospital

33

$29,069

$7,193

Pulmonary Embolism (clot)

Skokie Hospital

15

$33,717

$7,868

Evanston Hospital

83

$24,394

$8,050

St. Francis Hospital

12

$34,661

$8,660