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Procedure price report · Other Laboratory

Aquaporin-4 antibody test by cell-based fluorescence

CPT 86052the billing code this page is about

Blood test that detects aquaporin-4 antibodies using a cell-based immunofluorescence method; one unit is one such assay.

Hospitals typically charge $107 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,461 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $134. Most fall between $28 and $387 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,461
States
49
Filings dated
Jun 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 1,461 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
$17$35$107$302$731

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 44× what the cheapest tenth charges ($17 vs $731).

How the prices are spread

$12 – $19: 123 hospitals$12$19 – $30: 126 hospitals$30 – $46: 182 hospitals$30$46 – $72: 130 hospitals$72 – $113: 121 hospitals$72$113 – $177: 146 hospitals$177 – $278: 180 hospitals$177$278 – $435: 138 hospitals$435 – $681: 91 hospitals$435$681 – $1,067: 93 hospitals$681median $107price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,330 of 1,461 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$12$19123
$19$30126
$30$46182
$46$72130
$72$113121
$113$177146
$177$278180
$278$435138
$435$68191
$681$1,06793

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $107.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $60 across 11 hospitalsME$60Vermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: median $120 across 10 hospitalsNH$120Washington: median $37 across 33 hospitalsWA$37Idaho: median $263 across 12 hospitalsID$263Montana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $274 across 22 hospitalsMN$274Illinois: median $90 across 60 hospitalsIL$90Wisconsin: median $67 across 52 hospitalsWI$67Michigan: median $19 across 16 hospitalsMI$19New York: median $39 across 57 hospitalsNY$39Massachusetts: median $59 across 34 hospitalsMA$59Oregon: median $56 across 16 hospitalsOR$56Nevada: median $59 across 12 hospitalsNV$59Wyoming: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $49 across 19 hospitalsIA$49Indiana: median $79 across 56 hospitalsIN$79Ohio: median $184 across 73 hospitalsOH$184Pennsylvania: median $79 across 85 hospitalsPA$79New Jersey: median $13 across 39 hospitalsNJ$13Connecticut: median $38 across 14 hospitalsCT$38Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $30 across 45 hospitalsCA$30Utah: median $967 across 32 hospitalsUT$967Colorado: median $185 across 29 hospitalsCO$185Nebraska: median $85 across 15 hospitalsNE$85Missouri: median $215 across 36 hospitalsMO$215Kentucky: median $135 across 31 hospitalsKY$135West Virginia: median $33 across 20 hospitalsWV$33Virginia: median $183 across 54 hospitalsVA$183Maryland: median $157 across 35 hospitalsMD$157Delaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $78 across 15 hospitalsAZ$78New Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $241 across 22 hospitalsKS$241Arkansas: median $197 across 16 hospitalsAR$197Tennessee: median $28 across 43 hospitalsTN$28North Carolina: median $302 across 43 hospitalsNC$302South Carolina: median $447 across 30 hospitalsSC$447Oklahoma: median $78 across 39 hospitalsOK$78Louisiana: median $27 across 24 hospitalsLA$27Mississippi: median $12 across 19 hospitalsMS$12Alabama: median $238 across 18 hospitalsAL$238Georgia: median $225 across 47 hospitalsGA$225Hawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $123 across 122 hospitalsTX$123Florida: median $133 across 73 hospitalsFL$133
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $107. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT32$967+808%$324 – $1,137
South Carolina SC30$447+319%$324 – $558
North Carolina NC43$302+184%$26 – $1,067
Minnesota MN22$274+157%$258 – $434
Idaho ID12$263+146%$78 – $380
Kansas KS22$241+126%$83 – $1,443
Alabama AL18$238+123%$15 – $731
Georgia GA47$225+112%$136 – $308
Missouri MO36$215+101%$75 – $274
Arkansas AR16$197+85%$50 – $239
Colorado CO29$185+74%$92 – $390
Ohio OH73$184+72%$54 – $314
Virginia VA54$183+71%$28 – $293
Maryland MD35$157+47%$53 – $487
Kentucky KY31$135+27%$74 – $1,204
Florida FL73$133+25%$40 – $544
Texas TX122$123+15%$28 – $431
New Hampshire NH10$120+12%$68 – $444
Illinois IL60$90−15%$22 – $423
Nebraska NE15$85−20%$23 – $205
Pennsylvania PA85$79−26%$19 – $171
Indiana IN56$79−26%$20 – $195
Arizona AZ15$78−27%$10 – $119
Oklahoma OK39$78−27%$45 – $402
Wisconsin WI52$67−37%$37 – $160
Maine ME11$60−44%$42 – $107
Massachusetts MA34$59−45%$20 – $145
Nevada NV12$59−45%$22 – $382
Oregon OR16$56−47%$23 – $253
Iowa IA19$49−54%$49 – $382
New York NY57$39−63%$14 – $221
Connecticut CT14$38−64%$38 – $46
Washington WA33$37−66%$21 – $423
West Virginia WV20$33−69%$32 – $144
California CA45$30−72%$30 – $286
Tennessee TN43$28−74%$10 – $85
Louisiana LA24$27−75%$13 – $156
Michigan MI16$19−83%$17 – $37
New Jersey NJ39$13−88%$12 – $27
Mississippi MS19$12−89%$9 – $21
Wyoming WY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not 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 $107.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,212$104$27 – $380
Children’s23$97$26 – $338
Critical access224$133$35 – $470
Ownership
For-profit173$156$36 – $685
Government172$113$24 – $376
Non-profit1,114$95$28 – $341
System affiliation
Part of a system1,278$102$28 – $352
Independent183$158$27 – $520

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$202
Median cash price$107
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

1,037 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $123 and the average of the middle 60% is $140; most fall between $33 and $382.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,037 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
$21$39$123$300$643

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 31× what the cheapest tenth charges ($21 vs $643).

Of the 1,164 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,037 gave a usable cash price; 80 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 47 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,461 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (37%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,618 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,461
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here107
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded49
Hospitals that filed this code1,618

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 Other Laboratory family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Nmo Evaluation, Serum.

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, “Aquaporin-4 antibody test by cell-based fluorescence (CPT 86052) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-86052-aquaporin-4-antibody-test-by-cell-based-fluorescence