HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Pathology

Gene test for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1

CPT 81178the billing code this page is about

Laboratory analysis of the ATXN1 gene to look for an abnormal expanded repeat linked to an inherited form of spinocerebellar ataxia.

Hospitals typically charge $206 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 495 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $226. Most fall between $123 and $413 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
495
States
44
Filings dated
Dec 2024 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 495 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$98$133$206$316$570

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($98 vs $570).

How the prices are spread

$67 – $86: 20 hospitals$67$86 – $109: 37 hospitals$109 – $139: 91 hospitals$109$139 – $177: 55 hospitals$177 – $225: 32 hospitals$177$225 – $287: 55 hospitals$287 – $366: 74 hospitals$287$366 – $466: 40 hospitals$466 – $593: 24 hospitals$466$593 – $755: 33 hospitals$593median $206price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (461 of 495 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$67$8620
$86$10937
$109$13991
$139$17755
$177$22532
$225$28755
$287$36674
$366$46640
$466$59324
$593$75533

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $206.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: median $161 across 11 hospitalsWA$161Idaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $123 across 20 hospitalsMN$123Illinois: median $316 across 27 hospitalsIL$316Wisconsin: median $418 across 44 hospitalsWI$418Michigan: median $189 across 10 hospitalsMI$189New York: median $137 across 26 hospitalsNY$137Massachusetts: median $443 across 14 hospitalsMA$443Oregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $154 across 11 hospitalsIA$154Indiana: median $198 across 18 hospitalsIN$198Ohio: median $534 across 38 hospitalsOH$534Pennsylvania: median $111 across 20 hospitalsPA$111New Jersey: median $151 across 24 hospitalsNJ$151Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $314 across 21 hospitalsCA$314Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: median $303 across 11 hospitalsKY$303West Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $108 across 12 hospitalsVA$108Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $108 across 16 hospitalsTN$108North Carolina: median $44 across 11 hospitalsNC$44South Carolina: median $288 across 17 hospitalsSC$288Oklahoma: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $67 across 13 hospitalsGA$67Hawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $261 across 39 hospitalsTX$261Florida: median $128 across 13 hospitalsFL$128
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $206. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Ohio OH38$534+159%$133 – $758
Massachusetts MA14$443+115%$308 – $599
Wisconsin WI44$418+102%$159 – $755
Illinois IL27$316+53%$141 – $565
California CA21$314+52%$314 – $314
Kentucky KY11$303+47%$137 – $303
South Carolina SC17$288+40%$288 – $308
Texas TX39$261+26%$261 – $413
Indiana IN18$198−4%$137 – $268
Michigan MI10$189−8%$75 – $418
Washington WA11$161−22%$161 – $205
Iowa IA11$154−26%$154 – $154
New Jersey NJ24$151−27%$137 – $151
New York NY26$137−34%$137 – $347
Florida FL13$128−38%$91 – $137
Minnesota MN20$123−40%$98 – $123
Pennsylvania PA20$111−46%$91 – $668
Tennessee TN16$108−48%$47 – $108
Virginia VA12$108−48%$108 – $501
Georgia GA13$67−67%$67 – $116
North Carolina NC11$44−79%$44 – $53
Louisiana LA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oklahoma OK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $206.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care401$206$123 – $413
Children’s11fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access80$218$126 – $418
Ownership
For-profit30$198$116 – $261
Government46$137$122 – $293
Non-profit416$252$126 – $418
System affiliation
Part of a system453$213$123 – $418
Independent42$168$135 – $253

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$434
Median cash price$206
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

349 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $261 and the average of the middle 60% is $266; most fall between $126 and $501.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 349 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$106$133$261$418$748

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($106 vs $748).

Of the 368 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 349 gave a usable cash price; 11 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 8 a list price only.

How complete is this

495 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (13%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 505 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted495
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here5
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded4
Hospitals that filed this code505

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 4, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Pathology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as ATXN1 GENE DETC ABNOR ALLELE.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Gene test for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (CPT 81178) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-81178-gene-test-for-spinocerebellar-ataxia-type-1