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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Red blood cell osmotic fragility test after incubation

CPT 85557the billing code this page is about

The same salt-solution fragility test on red blood cells, performed after the sample has been incubated, which can reveal milder membrane defects.

Hospitals typically charge $94 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,292 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $98. Most fall between $32 and $201 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,292
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 1,292 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
$18$40$94$163$290

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($18 vs $290).

How the prices are spread

$13 – $19: 85 hospitals$13$19 – $26: 81 hospitals$26 – $37: 92 hospitals$26$37 – $52: 81 hospitals$52 – $73: 148 hospitals$52$73 – $102: 150 hospitals$102 – $143: 177 hospitals$102$143 – $200: 170 hospitals$200 – $281: 117 hospitals$200$281 – $394: 83 hospitals$281median $94price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,184 of 1,292 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$13$1985
$19$2681
$26$3792
$37$5281
$52$73148
$73$102150
$102$143177
$143$200170
$200$281117
$281$39483

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $94.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $59 across 21 hospitalsWA$59Idaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $110 across 35 hospitalsMN$110Illinois: median $99 across 57 hospitalsIL$99Wisconsin: median $158 across 51 hospitalsWI$158Michigan: median $58 across 43 hospitalsMI$58New York: median $38 across 61 hospitalsNY$38Massachusetts: median $61 across 32 hospitalsMA$61Oregon: median $75 across 13 hospitalsOR$75Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $34 across 26 hospitalsIA$34Indiana: median $73 across 55 hospitalsIN$73Ohio: median $140 across 80 hospitalsOH$140Pennsylvania: median $63 across 61 hospitalsPA$63New Jersey: median $15 across 44 hospitalsNJ$15Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $108 across 60 hospitalsCA$108Utah: median $335 across 23 hospitalsUT$335Colorado: median $121 across 36 hospitalsCO$121Nebraska: median $215 across 16 hospitalsNE$215Missouri: median $83 across 26 hospitalsMO$83Kentucky: median $73 across 23 hospitalsKY$73West Virginia: median $110 across 12 hospitalsWV$110Virginia: median $106 across 34 hospitalsVA$106Maryland: median $60 across 20 hospitalsMD$60Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $106 across 19 hospitalsKS$106Arkansas: median $73 across 10 hospitalsAR$73Tennessee: median $39 across 24 hospitalsTN$39North Carolina: median $58 across 23 hospitalsNC$58South Carolina: median $123 across 28 hospitalsSC$123Oklahoma: median $96 across 26 hospitalsOK$96Louisiana: median $34 across 28 hospitalsLA$34Mississippi: median $42 across 16 hospitalsMS$42Alabama: median $173 across 18 hospitalsAL$173Georgia: median $94 across 45 hospitalsGA$94Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $143 across 89 hospitalsTX$143Florida: median $71 across 43 hospitalsFL$71
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $94. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT23$335+258%$335 – $394
Nebraska NE16$215+130%$53 – $382
Alabama AL18$173+85%$24 – $559
Wisconsin WI51$158+69%$60 – $280
Texas TX89$143+53%$52 – $246
Ohio OH80$140+50%$45 – $215
South Carolina SC28$123+31%$102 – $237
Colorado CO36$121+30%$82 – $312
Minnesota MN35$110+18%$94 – $128
West Virginia WV12$110+18%$90 – $218
California CA60$108+16%$27 – $163
Kansas KS19$106+13%$56 – $176
Virginia VA34$106+13%$67 – $142
Illinois IL57$99+6%$32 – $239
Oklahoma OK26$96+3%$40 – $168
Georgia GA45$94+1%$75 – $288
Missouri MO26$83−11%$77 – $164
Oregon OR13$75−20%$41 – $133
Indiana IN55$73−21%$19 – $157
Kentucky KY23$73−21%$48 – $172
Arkansas AR10$73−22%$44 – $172
Florida FL43$71−24%$22 – $155
Pennsylvania PA61$63−32%$13 – $222
Massachusetts MA32$61−35%$35 – $171
Maryland MD20$60−36%$44 – $66
Washington WA21$59−37%$27 – $108
North Carolina NC23$58−38%$23 – $152
Michigan MI43$58−38%$23 – $107
Mississippi MS16$42−55%$26 – $57
Tennessee TN24$39−58%$23 – $220
New York NY61$38−60%$14 – $131
Louisiana LA28$34−64%$22 – $114
Iowa IA26$34−64%$34 – $143
New Jersey NJ44$15−84%$13 – $51
Arizona AZ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not 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 $94.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,051$89$28 – $187
Children’s35$143$66 – $206
Critical access199$102$40 – $215
Ownership
For-profit143$131$41 – $335
Government141$73$24 – $194
Non-profit1,001$94$32 – $176
System affiliation
Part of a system1,134$95$32 – $215
Independent158$78$30 – $172

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$173
Median cash price$94
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

943 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $106 and the average of the middle 60% is $106; most fall between $40 and $204.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 943 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
$24$51$106$163$288

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($24 vs $288).

Of the 1,021 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 943 gave a usable cash price; 41 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 37 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,292 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (33%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,373 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,292
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here40
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 — excluded40
Hospitals that filed this code1,373

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 RBC Fragility-Incubated.

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, “Red blood cell osmotic fragility test after incubation (CPT 85557) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-85557-red-blood-cell-osmotic-fragility-test-after-incubation