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Procedure price report · Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology)

Urine albumin screen (microalbumin), estimated level

CPT 82044the billing code this page is about

Laboratory test on a urine sample that estimates whether albumin protein is present and roughly how much, without a precise measured value.

Hospitals typically charge $20 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 864 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $24. Most fall between $9 and $45 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
864
States
47
Filings dated
Jan 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 864 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
$6$11$20$42$65

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($6 vs $65).

How the prices are spread

$5 – $7: 46 hospitals$5$7 – $9: 77 hospitals$9 – $12: 102 hospitals$9$12 – $16: 87 hospitals$16 – $22: 92 hospitals$16$22 – $30: 97 hospitals$30 – $40: 82 hospitals$30$40 – $54: 118 hospitals$54 – $73: 61 hospitals$54$73 – $99: 16 hospitals$73median $20price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (778 of 864 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$5$746
$7$977
$9$12102
$12$1687
$16$2292
$22$3097
$30$4082
$40$54118
$54$7361
$73$9916

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $20.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $15 across 14 hospitalsWA$15Idaho: median $15 across 10 hospitalsID$15Montana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $38 across 14 hospitalsND$38Minnesota: median $53 across 24 hospitalsMN$53Illinois: median $20 across 24 hospitalsIL$20Wisconsin: median $66 across 14 hospitalsWI$66Michigan: median $11 across 59 hospitalsMI$11New York: median $7 across 25 hospitalsNY$7Massachusetts: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $13 across 13 hospitalsOR$13Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $70 across 12 hospitalsSD$70Iowa: median $26 across 33 hospitalsIA$26Indiana: median $10 across 35 hospitalsIN$10Ohio: median $28 across 29 hospitalsOH$28Pennsylvania: median $5 across 18 hospitalsPA$5New Jersey: median $7 across 22 hospitalsNJ$7Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $19 across 38 hospitalsCA$19Utah: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $17 across 25 hospitalsNE$17Missouri: median $16 across 27 hospitalsMO$16Kentucky: median $48 across 20 hospitalsKY$48West Virginia: median $11 across 17 hospitalsWV$11Virginia: median $8 across 18 hospitalsVA$8Maryland: median $14 across 10 hospitalsMD$14Delaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $30 across 28 hospitalsKS$30Arkansas: median $13 across 11 hospitalsAR$13Tennessee: median $8 across 22 hospitalsTN$8North Carolina: median $17 across 28 hospitalsNC$17South Carolina: median $46 across 20 hospitalsSC$46Oklahoma: median $14 across 28 hospitalsOK$14Louisiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: median $20 across 27 hospitalsMS$20Alabama: median $17 across 11 hospitalsAL$17Georgia: median $18 across 10 hospitalsGA$18Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $42 across 96 hospitalsTX$42Florida: median $16 across 20 hospitalsFL$16
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $20. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD12$70+245%$59 – $87
Wisconsin WI14$66+225%$66 – $66
Minnesota MN24$53+158%$29 – $79
Kentucky KY20$48+137%$12 – $54
South Carolina SC20$46+123%$18 – $51
Texas TX96$42+106%$25 – $117
North Dakota ND14$38+88%$26 – $42
Kansas KS28$30+47%$19 – $52
Ohio OH29$28+37%$8 – $28
Iowa IA33$26+26%$18 – $31
Mississippi MS27$20−1%$10 – $58
Illinois IL24$20−3%$12 – $36
California CA38$19−7%$19 – $38
Georgia GA10$18−14%$17 – $21
Nebraska NE25$17−16%$8 – $53
Alabama AL11$17−17%$13 – $26
North Carolina NC28$17−17%$17 – $38
Florida FL20$16−20%$9 – $39
Missouri MO27$16−22%$13 – $42
Idaho ID10$15−25%$11 – $48
Washington WA14$15−27%$10 – $31
Oklahoma OK28$14−30%$11 – $42
Maryland MD10$14−30%$11 – $16
Oregon OR13$13−37%$12 – $37
Arkansas AR11$13−38%$7 – $27
Michigan MI59$11−46%$6 – $22
West Virginia WV17$11−49%$10 – $54
Indiana IN35$10−51%$6 – $15
Tennessee TN22$8−63%$4 – $10
Virginia VA18$8−63%$4 – $23
New York NY25$7−63%$6 – $13
New Jersey NJ22$7−66%$6 – $7
Pennsylvania PA18$5−76%$4 – $9
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not 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 $20.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care583$17$8 – $42
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access272$30$14 – $56
Ownership
For-profit97$24$10 – $85
Government151$27$13 – $48
Non-profit616$19$8 – $44
System affiliation
Part of a system729$20$9 – $46
Independent135$20$9 – $41

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$34
Median cash price$20
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

545 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $24 and the average of the middle 60% is $26; most fall between $11 and $47.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 545 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
$8$12$24$43$66

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($8 vs $66).

Of the 584 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 545 gave a usable cash price; 25 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 14 a list price only.

How complete is this

864 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (22%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 909 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted864
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here31
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 — excluded13
Hospitals that filed this code909

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 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as URINE ALBUMIN SEMIQUANTITATIVE 82044.

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, “Urine albumin screen (microalbumin), estimated level (CPT 82044) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-82044-urine-albumin-screen-microalbumin-estimated-level