X-ray, hip cost in WI
What a x-ray, hip costs at WI hospitals — and the fair price to aim for.
Typical commercial prices here are +14% above the fair benchmark (1.14×) even after accounting for local nurse/doctor wages and patient complexity.
Balances commercial hospital prices against CMS clinical safety, infection control, and patient experience.
Loss-Leader / Captive Ancillary Cross-Subsidizer
Crossing Rivers Health Medical Center prices routine shoppable procedures near 1.0× Medicare (p50 1.10×) while skewing captive emergency, lab, and upper-quartile codes to 1.5× Medicare (p75 1.58×, +44% upper-tail jump). Patients scheduling elective outpatient care can capture competitive rates, but emergency and ancillary bills require strict line-item auditing.
Where They're Good (Patient & Payer Edge)
- Bottom-quartile procedures (Q25) price at 0.44× the peer BaseRate benchmark
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 21% of shoppable procedures (25/100 Cash Honesty)
- CMS clinical safety score (80/100 safety score) with 79% patient recommendation
- IRS 501(c)(3) charity care provides free care up to 200% FPL and discounted care up to 400% FPL (59.5% AGB cap)
Where You Can Get Burned (Markup Traps)
- Even at low-cost facilities (1.14× Fair BaseRate), out-of-network or unnegotiated chargemaster bills can exceed commercial medians — confirm in-network status or request a self-pay cash quote up front.
- Captive ER (0.4×) & laboratory (1.5×) services average 1.50× higher multiples than routine shoppable care (1.0×)
- Upper-quartile procedures (Q75 1.58×) jump +44% above the median procedure ratio (Q50 1.10×)
- Unnegotiated chargemaster list prices average 8.3× Medicare (25¢ true HCRIS cost per $1 gross)
Pre-scheduled outpatient procedures where patients can comparison-shop.
Emergency, inpatient DRG, lab, and specialty drug lines billed after admission.
Detects median-gaming when upper-quartile codes spike above the p50 median.
In general, WI hospitals charge below the fair price — a good state to get this done. how we calculate the BaseRate →
Compared with the rest of the country, WI’s fair BaseRate ($125) is above the national fair price of $96.
Cheapest WI hospitals for a x-ray, hip
- Crossing Rivers Health Medical Center · Prairie Du Chien $19
- Tomah Memorial Hospital · Tomah $29
- Aspirus Medford Hospital & Clinics, Inc · Medford $30
- Richland Hospital · Richland Center $32
- Langlade Hospital · Antigo $35
- Upland Hills Health · Dodgeville $45
- Unitypoint Health - Meriter · Madison $46
- Beloit Health System · Beloit $48
- Vernon Memorial Hospital · Viroqua $54
- Edgerton Hospital and Health Services · Edgerton $55
- Bellin Memorial Hospital · Green Bay $71
- Holy Family Memorial · Manitowoc $84
- Burnett Medical Center · Grantsburg $84
- Ascension Ne Wisconsin - St Elizabeth Campus · Appleton $85
- St Vincent Hospital · Green Bay $85
Audit a Bill or Quote at WI Hospital Benchmark (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $92
At 274% FPL (201%–400% FPL tier), 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5) caps FAP-eligible bills at Amounts Generally Billed (36.3% of gross = $92).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Ask WI Hospital Benchmark's billing desk for their written 45 CFR § 180 discounted self-pay cash price and Good Faith Estimate under the No Surprises Act.
Negotiate Toward $125 Fair BaseRate ($73 Medicare)
Your bill ($254) is $129 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($125) and 3.5× the $73 Medicare rate.