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Procedure price report · Other Laboratory

Cold agglutinin screen

CPT 86156the billing code this page is about

Blood test that screens for antibodies that clump red blood cells at cold temperatures, reported as positive or negative.

Hospitals typically charge $49 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,299 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $53. Most fall between $19 and $105 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,299
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 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 1,299 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
$11$25$49$88$157

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($11 vs $157).

How the prices are spread

$8 – $11: 82 hospitals$8$11 – $16: 59 hospitals$16 – $22: 79 hospitals$16$22 – $31: 121 hospitals$31 – $44: 169 hospitals$31$44 – $62: 226 hospitals$62 – $86: 164 hospitals$62$86 – $121: 123 hospitals$121 – $170: 100 hospitals$121$170 – $238: 48 hospitals$170median $49price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,171 of 1,299 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$8$1182
$11$1659
$16$2279
$22$31121
$31$44169
$44$62226
$62$86164
$86$121123
$121$170100
$170$23848

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $49.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $48 across 11 hospitalsWA$48Idaho: median $80 across 11 hospitalsID$80Montana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $47 across 15 hospitalsMN$47Illinois: median $68 across 55 hospitalsIL$68Wisconsin: median $62 across 45 hospitalsWI$62Michigan: median $38 across 39 hospitalsMI$38New York: median $13 across 52 hospitalsNY$13Massachusetts: median $44 across 37 hospitalsMA$44Oregon: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: median $52 across 11 hospitalsNV$52Wyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $62 across 31 hospitalsIA$62Indiana: median $50 across 36 hospitalsIN$50Ohio: median $40 across 38 hospitalsOH$40Pennsylvania: median $22 across 57 hospitalsPA$22New Jersey: median $9 across 41 hospitalsNJ$9Connecticut: median $33 across 11 hospitalsCT$33Rhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $43 across 82 hospitalsCA$43Utah: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $74 across 28 hospitalsCO$74Nebraska: median $80 across 10 hospitalsNE$80Missouri: median $55 across 42 hospitalsMO$55Kentucky: median $47 across 14 hospitalsKY$47West Virginia: median $29 across 16 hospitalsWV$29Virginia: median $38 across 40 hospitalsVA$38Maryland: median $32 across 27 hospitalsMD$32Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $41 across 26 hospitalsAZ$41New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $136 across 22 hospitalsKS$136Arkansas: median $58 across 18 hospitalsAR$58Tennessee: median $26 across 25 hospitalsTN$26North Carolina: median $59 across 44 hospitalsNC$59South Carolina: median $58 across 14 hospitalsSC$58Oklahoma: median $57 across 42 hospitalsOK$57Louisiana: median $16 across 16 hospitalsLA$16Mississippi: median $20 across 11 hospitalsMS$20Alabama: median $67 across 21 hospitalsAL$67Georgia: median $83 across 53 hospitalsGA$83Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $105 across 144 hospitalsTX$105Florida: median $24 across 50 hospitalsFL$24
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $49. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Kansas KS22$136+179%$55 – $308
Texas TX144$105+116%$45 – $157
Georgia GA53$83+71%$15 – $262
Idaho ID11$80+65%$52 – $119
Nebraska NE10$80+64%$8 – $125
Colorado CO28$74+53%$56 – $206
Illinois IL55$68+40%$33 – $107
Alabama AL21$67+38%$17 – $96
Iowa IA31$62+28%$49 – $98
Wisconsin WI45$62+28%$25 – $71
North Carolina NC44$59+21%$48 – $92
Arkansas AR18$58+19%$47 – $158
South Carolina SC14$58+19%$21 – $87
Oklahoma OK42$57+18%$31 – $70
Missouri MO42$55+14%$40 – $110
Nevada NV11$52+7%$25 – $118
Indiana IN36$50+4%$15 – $146
Washington WA11$48−2%$23 – $83
Kentucky KY14$47−3%$34 – $91
Minnesota MN15$47−3%$24 – $60
Massachusetts MA37$44−9%$23 – $89
California CA82$43−11%$25 – $69
Arizona AZ26$41−16%$18 – $85
Ohio OH38$40−17%$19 – $66
Michigan MI39$38−21%$17 – $64
Virginia VA40$38−23%$31 – $72
Connecticut CT11$33−32%$16 – $61
Maryland MD27$32−34%$27 – $40
West Virginia WV16$29−40%$26 – $64
Tennessee TN25$26−47%$12 – $58
Florida FL50$24−51%$17 – $59
Pennsylvania PA57$22−54%$8 – $59
Mississippi MS11$20−59%$14 – $31
Louisiana LA16$16−67%$12 – $42
New York NY52$13−74%$8 – $58
New Jersey NJ41$9−82%$8 – $9
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not 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 $49.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,039$46$18 – $105
Children’s22$105$27 – $215
Critical access237$56$25 – $96
Ownership
For-profit192$82$26 – $180
Government174$52$18 – $106
Non-profit932$45$19 – $89
System affiliation
Part of a system1,112$49$19 – $105
Independent187$50$24 – $108

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$84
Median cash price$49
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

919 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $49 and the average of the middle 60% is $53; most fall between $24 and $103.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 919 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
$14$29$49$87$157

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($14 vs $157).

Of the 1,021 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 919 gave a usable cash price; 53 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 49 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,299 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 1,424 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,299
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here69
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded54
Hospitals that filed this code1,424

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 Other Laboratory family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Cold Autoantibody Screen (Reference Lab).

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, “Cold agglutinin screen (CPT 86156) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-86156-cold-agglutinin-screen