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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Automated reticulocyte count with added cell measure

CPT 85046the billing code this page is about

Machine-run count of young red blood cells that also reports one or more extra measurements, such as their hemoglobin content.

Hospitals typically charge $37 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,660 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $40. Most fall between $16 and $73 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,660
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 1,660 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
$9$20$37$65$120

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($9 vs $120).

How the prices are spread

$6 – $9: 85 hospitals$6$9 – $12: 74 hospitals$12 – $17: 131 hospitals$12$17 – $25: 161 hospitals$25 – $35: 237 hospitals$25$35 – $50: 282 hospitals$50 – $71: 265 hospitals$50$71 – $102: 123 hospitals$102 – $145: 82 hospitals$102$145 – $207: 60 hospitals$145median $37price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,500 of 1,660 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$6$985
$9$1274
$12$17131
$17$25161
$25$35237
$35$50282
$50$71265
$71$102123
$102$14582
$145$20760

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $37.

Alaska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $24 across 12 hospitalsME$24Vermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $37 across 18 hospitalsNH$37Washington: median $39 across 43 hospitalsWA$39Idaho: median $26 across 11 hospitalsID$26Montana: median $40 across 22 hospitalsMT$40North Dakota: median $39 across 20 hospitalsND$39Minnesota: median $39 across 91 hospitalsMN$39Illinois: median $62 across 78 hospitalsIL$62Wisconsin: median $39 across 73 hospitalsWI$39Michigan: median $19 across 66 hospitalsMI$19New York: median $14 across 58 hospitalsNY$14Massachusetts: median $23 across 23 hospitalsMA$23Oregon: median $15 across 22 hospitalsOR$15Nevada: median $29 across 10 hospitalsNV$29Wyoming: median $32 across 11 hospitalsWY$32South Dakota: median $91 across 19 hospitalsSD$91Iowa: median $45 across 62 hospitalsIA$45Indiana: median $40 across 63 hospitalsIN$40Ohio: median $25 across 58 hospitalsOH$25Pennsylvania: median $16 across 63 hospitalsPA$16New Jersey: median $6 across 37 hospitalsNJ$6Connecticut: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $36 across 91 hospitalsCA$36Utah: median $60 across 28 hospitalsUT$60Colorado: median $52 across 36 hospitalsCO$52Nebraska: median $46 across 41 hospitalsNE$46Missouri: median $38 across 49 hospitalsMO$38Kentucky: median $27 across 26 hospitalsKY$27West Virginia: median $14 across 18 hospitalsWV$14Virginia: median $84 across 26 hospitalsVA$84Maryland: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $47 across 19 hospitalsAZ$47New Mexico: median $33 across 17 hospitalsNM$33Kansas: median $62 across 22 hospitalsKS$62Arkansas: median $13 across 26 hospitalsAR$13Tennessee: median $55 across 29 hospitalsTN$55North Carolina: median $31 across 34 hospitalsNC$31South Carolina: median $71 across 22 hospitalsSC$71Oklahoma: median $20 across 25 hospitalsOK$20Louisiana: median $20 across 10 hospitalsLA$20Mississippi: median $10 across 10 hospitalsMS$10Alabama: median $100 across 10 hospitalsAL$100Georgia: median $44 across 30 hospitalsGA$44Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $57 across 125 hospitalsTX$57Florida: median $67 across 63 hospitalsFL$67
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $37. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Alabama AL10$100+167%$15 – $105
South Dakota SD19$91+144%$33 – $147
Virginia VA26$84+123%$56 – $335
South Carolina SC22$71+89%$24 – $85
Florida FL63$67+80%$21 – $383
Illinois IL78$62+67%$33 – $114
Kansas KS22$62+66%$22 – $95
Utah UT28$60+61%$60 – $71
Texas TX125$57+53%$35 – $131
Tennessee TN29$55+46%$7 – $172
Colorado CO36$52+39%$20 – $94
Arizona AZ19$47+25%$18 – $59
Nebraska NE41$46+24%$30 – $72
Iowa IA62$45+20%$33 – $56
Georgia GA30$44+16%$10 – $161
Montana MT22$40+7%$26 – $68
Indiana IN63$40+6%$17 – $65
Minnesota MN91$39+5%$24 – $68
North Dakota ND20$39+4%$33 – $48
Washington WA43$39+4%$14 – $66
Wisconsin WI73$39+3%$32 – $59
Missouri MO49$38+3%$21 – $84
New Hampshire NH18$37−2%$30 – $90
California CA91$36−4%$18 – $51
New Mexico NM17$33−12%$21 – $62
Wyoming WY11$32−14%$11 – $152
North Carolina NC34$31−18%$11 – $69
Nevada NV10$29−21%$8 – $54
Kentucky KY26$27−27%$16 – $70
Idaho ID11$26−29%$25 – $57
Ohio OH58$25−34%$22 – $207
Maine ME12$24−36%$17 – $48
Massachusetts MA23$23−39%$14 – $37
Oklahoma OK25$20−46%$10 – $31
Louisiana LA10$20−47%$4 – $38
Michigan MI66$19−49%$12 – $34
Pennsylvania PA63$16−58%$6 – $63
Oregon OR22$15−59%$14 – $54
West Virginia WV18$14−63%$14 – $20
New York NY58$14−63%$6 – $28
Arkansas AR26$13−65%$6 – $56
Mississippi MS10$10−74%$7 – $58
New Jersey NJ37$6−84%$6 – $6
Alaska AK9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not 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 $37.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,185$36$14 – $73
Children’s35$45$24 – $99
Critical access433$41$25 – $70
Ownership
For-profit204$62$23 – $301
Government238$41$17 – $77
Non-profit1,211$36$14 – $66
System affiliation
Part of a system1,456$37$15 – $72
Independent204$43$20 – $84

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$63
Median cash price$37
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

1,152 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $38 and the average of the middle 60% is $40; most fall between $17 and $68.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,152 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
$10$21$38$59$107

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($10 vs $107).

Of the 1,253 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,152 gave a usable cash price; 50 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 51 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,660 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (42%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,793 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,660
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here74
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 — excluded58
Hospitals that filed this code1,793

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 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 Reticulocyte Panel.

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, “Automated reticulocyte count with added cell measure (CPT 85046) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-85046-automated-reticulocyte-count-with-added-cell-measure