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Cataract surgery with lens implant in Chicago, IL-IN costs $655 to $13,660. Here's every hospital's price.

6 hospitals in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area publish a cash price for cataract surgery with lens implant (CPT 66984). We read their files every month so you don't have to.

Across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area, 6 hospitals list a cash price for cataract surgery with lens implant (CPT 66984). The lowest is $655 at Humboldt Park Health, the median is $5,059 and the highest is $13,660 at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Community Hospital. The most expensive hospital lists 21 times the cheapest for the same code.

The Chicago, IL-IN median of $5,059 is 66% above the national median of $3,043 across 145 US hospitals with a cash price for this code.

26 of these hospitals also publish the rates they negotiated with insurers, from $219 to $15,026. With insurance you pay a share of the negotiated rate, which is sometimes higher than the cash price; you may ask for the cash price instead.

The files behind these prices are dated between November 2025 and August 2026. 54 other hospitals in the metro area have no readable price for this code: some publish no file, some block automated reading, some leave the code out. They are listed below so you can call them.

$655
lowest cash price in Chicago, IL-IN
Humboldt Park Health · 12 mi
$4,404 below the median
$5,059
median cash price
6 hospitals
21×
highest ÷ lowest
same procedure, same metro
6/82
hospitals with a cash price
54 don't · see who

Sorted by cash price

Hospital facility fee only
1
Humboldt Park Health

Chicago · 12 mi · File Aug 2026

$655
list $2,339
2
Northwest Health - Porter

Valparaiso · 43 mi · File Apr 2026

$4,830
list $17,888
3
Jackson Park Hospital

Chicago · 13 mi · File Dec 2025

$5,059
list $6,324
4
Northwestern Medicine Mchenry

Mchenry · 45 mi · File Apr 2026

$10,711
list $15,301
5
Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital

Dekalb · 47 mi · File Apr 2026

$10,853
list $15,504 · lowest of 2 lines
6
Northwestern Medicine Delnor Community Hospital

Geneva · 27 mi · File Apr 2026

$13,660
list $19,514 · lowest of 2 lines
7
Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital

Melrose Park · 10 mi · File Mar 2026

8
Advocate Sherman Hospital

Elgin · 33 mi · File Nov 2025

9
Advocate Trinity Hospital

Chicago · 14 mi · File Nov 2025

10
Macneal Hospital

Berwyn · 6 mi · File Mar 2026

11
Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth La Grange

La Grange · 3 mi · File Apr 2026

12
The University of Chicago Medical Center

Chicago · 12 mi · File Apr 2026

1

What's in the price

The hospital facility fee for CPT 66984. The doctor, anesthesia and lab work usually bill separately.

2

Cash vs. insured

Cash is what you pay without insurance. With insurance you pay a share of the negotiated rate, which can be higher than cash. You may ask for the cash price.

3

What to say on the phone

"I'd like the self-pay price for CPT 66984, in writing, and whether it covers facility, physician and anesthesia."

About cataract surgery with lens implant

CPT 66984 is the standard cataract operation: the cloudy natural lens is broken up with ultrasound and replaced with an artificial lens. It takes 15 to 30 minutes, is done under local anesthesia with light sedation, and you go home the same day. It is one of the most common operations in the United States.

What the price covers

The hospital's price is the facility fee for the operating room, nursing, the phacoemulsification equipment, the standard single-focus lens and recovery. The ophthalmologist and the anesthesia provider bill separately. Premium lenses (multifocal, toric for astigmatism) are not part of the covered procedure and are charged on top, usually $1,000 to $3,000 per eye, often directly by the surgeon.

Why prices vary

Hospital outpatient departments are consistently more expensive than ambulatory surgery centers for the same operation, sometimes by a factor of two or three. Within hospitals, the spread follows system size and ownership. Medicare pays for most cataract surgery in the US, so hospitals' negotiated rates cluster; the cash prices vary far more.

Questions to ask

  • What is the self-pay price for 66984 per eye, and does it include the standard lens?
  • What does the surgeon charge, and what does anesthesia charge?
  • If I choose a premium lens, what is the extra charge and who bills it?
  • Would the same surgeon do it at an ambulatory surgery center for less?

Hospitals in Chicago, IL-IN without a price for this procedure

Listed so you know who to call. The reason is what we found on their website.

Questions people ask