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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) blood test

CPT 82378the billing code this page is about

Measures the level of carcinoembryonic antigen, a protein marker, in a blood sample.

Hospitals typically charge $101 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,344 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $106. Most fall between $44 and $190 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,344
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 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 3,344 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
$27$54$101$164$274

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($27 vs $274).

How the prices are spread

$19 – $26: 171 hospitals$19$26 – $35: 144 hospitals$35 – $47: 260 hospitals$35$47 – $64: 284 hospitals$64 – $86: 380 hospitals$64$86 – $116: 491 hospitals$116 – $158: 536 hospitals$116$158 – $213: 423 hospitals$213 – $289: 215 hospitals$213$289 – $391: 128 hospitals$289median $101price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (3,032 of 3,344 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$19$26171
$26$35144
$35$47260
$47$64284
$64$86380
$86$116491
$116$158536
$158$213423
$213$289215
$289$391128

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $101.

Alaska: median $114 across 19 hospitalsAK$114Maine: median $86 across 28 hospitalsME$86Vermont: median $182 across 14 hospitalsVT$182New Hampshire: median $106 across 24 hospitalsNH$106Washington: median $126 across 76 hospitalsWA$126Idaho: median $91 across 24 hospitalsID$91Montana: median $100 across 31 hospitalsMT$100North Dakota: median $130 across 33 hospitalsND$130Minnesota: median $100 across 105 hospitalsMN$100Illinois: median $160 across 141 hospitalsIL$160Wisconsin: median $136 across 104 hospitalsWI$136Michigan: median $62 across 100 hospitalsMI$62New York: median $61 across 118 hospitalsNY$61Massachusetts: median $105 across 52 hospitalsMA$105Oregon: median $82 across 49 hospitalsOR$82Nevada: median $108 across 21 hospitalsNV$108Wyoming: median $87 across 16 hospitalsWY$87South Dakota: median $197 across 39 hospitalsSD$197Iowa: median $108 across 88 hospitalsIA$108Indiana: median $110 across 95 hospitalsIN$110Ohio: median $87 across 141 hospitalsOH$87Pennsylvania: median $91 across 120 hospitalsPA$91New Jersey: median $22 across 56 hospitalsNJ$22Connecticut: median $94 across 23 hospitalsCT$94Rhode Island: median $152 across 10 hospitalsRI$152California: median $120 across 147 hospitalsCA$120Utah: median $99 across 42 hospitalsUT$99Colorado: median $115 across 69 hospitalsCO$115Nebraska: median $134 across 81 hospitalsNE$134Missouri: median $80 across 74 hospitalsMO$80Kentucky: median $120 across 69 hospitalsKY$120West Virginia: median $109 across 44 hospitalsWV$109Virginia: median $115 across 73 hospitalsVA$115Maryland: median $68 across 41 hospitalsMD$68Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $113 across 42 hospitalsAZ$113New Mexico: median $129 across 28 hospitalsNM$129Kansas: median $100 across 92 hospitalsKS$100Arkansas: median $51 across 39 hospitalsAR$51Tennessee: median $63 across 83 hospitalsTN$63North Carolina: median $135 across 85 hospitalsNC$135South Carolina: median $158 across 52 hospitalsSC$158Oklahoma: median $76 across 73 hospitalsOK$76Louisiana: median $70 across 52 hospitalsLA$70Mississippi: median $65 across 56 hospitalsMS$65Alabama: median $82 across 44 hospitalsAL$82Georgia: median $99 across 108 hospitalsGA$99Hawaii: median $114 across 19 hospitalsHI$114Texas: median $135 across 246 hospitalsTX$135Florida: median $110 across 151 hospitalsFL$110
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $101. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD39$197+95%$140 – $297
Vermont VT14$182+79%$70 – $268
Illinois IL141$160+58%$83 – $265
South Carolina SC52$158+57%$78 – $171
Rhode Island RI10$152+50%$48 – $168
Wisconsin WI104$136+34%$84 – $175
North Carolina NC85$135+33%$75 – $193
Texas TX246$135+33%$44 – $255
Nebraska NE81$134+32%$80 – $190
North Dakota ND33$130+28%$34 – $147
New Mexico NM28$129+27%$88 – $183
Washington WA76$126+24%$84 – $158
California CA147$120+19%$14 – $192
Kentucky KY69$120+19%$43 – $216
Virginia VA73$115+14%$70 – $210
Colorado CO69$115+13%$35 – $273
Hawaii HI19$114+13%$94 – $140
Alaska AK19$114+13%$32 – $214
Arizona AZ42$113+12%$28 – $461
Florida FL151$110+9%$36 – $277
Indiana IN95$110+8%$40 – $220
West Virginia WV44$109+8%$72 – $168
Nevada NV21$108+7%$44 – $170
Iowa IA88$108+6%$64 – $166
New Hampshire NH24$106+5%$57 – $264
Massachusetts MA52$105+4%$65 – $164
Montana MT31$100−1%$87 – $148
Kansas KS92$100−1%$69 – $143
Minnesota MN105$100−1%$40 – $146
Georgia GA108$99−2%$41 – $218
Utah UT42$99−2%$84 – $218
Connecticut CT23$94−7%$74 – $158
Idaho ID24$91−10%$23 – $121
Pennsylvania PA120$91−10%$28 – $236
Ohio OH141$87−14%$53 – $145
Wyoming WY16$87−14%$37 – $156
Maine ME28$86−15%$47 – $158
Alabama AL44$82−19%$37 – $211
Oregon OR49$82−19%$45 – $128
Missouri MO74$80−21%$51 – $150
Oklahoma OK73$76−25%$48 – $131
Louisiana LA52$70−31%$36 – $116
Maryland MD41$68−33%$52 – $81
Mississippi MS56$65−36%$44 – $125
Tennessee TN83$63−38%$41 – $118
Michigan MI100$62−38%$18 – $120
New York NY118$61−40%$29 – $194
Arkansas AR39$51−50%$25 – $101
New Jersey NJ56$22−78%$21 – $46
Delaware DE7not 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 $101.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,303$97$40 – $193
Children’s49$92$23 – $204
Critical access982$113$60 – $179
Ownership
For-profit463$143$53 – $420
Government640$108$49 – $172
Non-profit2,231$97$44 – $174
System affiliation
Part of a system2,703$100$44 – $192
Independent641$105$48 – $174

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$174
Median cash price$101
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

2,258 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $104 and the average of the middle 60% is $108; most fall between $47 and $190.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,258 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
$31$56$104$165$255

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($31 vs $255).

Of the 2,498 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,258 gave a usable cash price; 127 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 113 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,344 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (85%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,659 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,344
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here177
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded136
Hospitals that filed this code3,659

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 July 20, 2026 and September 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Cea(Carcinoembryonic Ag).

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, “Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) blood test (CPT 82378) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-82378-carcinoembryonic-antigen-cea-blood-test