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Procedure price report · Pathology

Tay-Sachs gene test for common variants

CPT 81255the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that checks the HEXA gene for the small set of most frequently seen disease-causing changes.

Hospitals typically charge $158 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 734 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $180. Most fall between $65 and $414 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
734
States
45
Filings dated
Sep 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 734 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
$51$75$158$326$694

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($51 vs $694).

How the prices are spread

$38 – $53: 55 hospitals$38$53 – $73: 83 hospitals$73 – $101: 94 hospitals$73$101 – $140: 77 hospitals$140 – $193: 67 hospitals$140$193 – $267: 99 hospitals$267 – $370: 64 hospitals$267$370 – $512: 44 hospitals$512 – $708: 46 hospitals$512$708 – $979: 35 hospitals$708median $158price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (664 of 734 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$38$5355
$53$7383
$73$10194
$101$14077
$140$19367
$193$26799
$267$37064
$370$51244
$512$70846
$708$97935

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $158.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $179 across 11 hospitalsNH$179Washington: median $83 across 25 hospitalsWA$83Idaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $166 across 27 hospitalsIL$166Wisconsin: median $229 across 18 hospitalsWI$229Michigan: median $66 across 27 hospitalsMI$66New York: median $78 across 44 hospitalsNY$78Massachusetts: median $201 across 31 hospitalsMA$201Oregon: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $128 across 11 hospitalsIA$128Indiana: median $96 across 23 hospitalsIN$96Ohio: median $259 across 48 hospitalsOH$259Pennsylvania: median $273 across 57 hospitalsPA$273New Jersey: median $57 across 37 hospitalsNJ$57Connecticut: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $89 across 49 hospitalsCA$89Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $63 across 11 hospitalsCO$63Nebraska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNEMissouri: median $223 across 10 hospitalsMO$223Kentucky: median $114 across 14 hospitalsKY$114West Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $263 across 26 hospitalsVA$263Maryland: median $376 across 11 hospitalsMD$376Delaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $124 across 12 hospitalsTN$124North Carolina: median $280 across 22 hospitalsNC$280South Carolina: median $100 across 15 hospitalsSC$100Oklahoma: median $353 across 11 hospitalsOK$353Louisiana: median $258 across 19 hospitalsLA$258Mississippi: median $112 across 10 hospitalsMS$112Alabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $231 across 44 hospitalsTX$231Florida: median $80 across 33 hospitalsFL$80
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $158. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD11$376+138%$187 – $414
Oklahoma OK11$353+123%$154 – $726
North Carolina NC22$280+77%$63 – $649
Pennsylvania PA57$273+73%$110 – $1,185
Virginia VA26$263+67%$63 – $718
Ohio OH48$259+64%$231 – $544
Louisiana LA19$258+63%$57 – $510
Texas TX44$231+46%$38 – $334
Wisconsin WI18$229+45%$148 – $478
Missouri MO10$223+41%$79 – $694
Massachusetts MA31$201+27%$154 – $505
New Hampshire NH11$179+13%$38 – $415
Illinois IL27$166+5%$119 – $185
Iowa IA11$128−19%$128 – $128
Tennessee TN12$124−21%$67 – $227
Kentucky KY14$114−28%$83 – $2,419
Mississippi MS10$112−29%$53 – $221
South Carolina SC15$100−37%$100 – $104
Indiana IN23$96−39%$74 – $417
California CA49$89−43%$88 – $134
Washington WA25$83−48%$62 – $143
Florida FL33$80−49%$74 – $292
New York NY44$78−51%$51 – $346
Michigan MI27$66−58%$31 – $237
Colorado CO11$63−60%$63 – $168
New Jersey NJ37$57−64%$51 – $89
Maine ME9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not 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 $158.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care637$151$63 – $417
Children’s11fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access81$214$95 – $334
Ownership
For-profit51$203$68 – $414
Government73$83$51 – $334
Non-profit605$160$68 – $415
System affiliation
Part of a system651$157$65 – $414
Independent83$161$64 – $357

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$275
Median cash price$158
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

506 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $185 and the average of the middle 60% is $193; most fall between $80 and $414.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 506 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
$59$90$185$322$718

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($59 vs $718).

Of the 552 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 506 gave a usable cash price; 29 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 17 a list price only.

How complete is this

734 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (19%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 790 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted734
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here42
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded14
Hospitals that filed this code790

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 HEXA GENE.

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, “Tay-Sachs gene test for common variants (CPT 81255) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-81255-tay-sachs-gene-test-for-common-variants