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Procedure price report · Other Laboratory

Tuberculosis blood test counting responding immune cells

CPT 86481the billing code this page is about

Blood test for tuberculosis infection that counts the individual immune cells producing gamma interferon after exposure to tuberculosis proteins.

Hospitals typically charge $166 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,479 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $175. Most fall between $96 and $310 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,479
States
50
Filings dated
Feb 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 1,479 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
$66$107$166$282$471

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($66 vs $471).

How the prices are spread

$46 – $60: 42 hospitals$46$60 – $78: 87 hospitals$78 – $101: 151 hospitals$78$101 – $132: 225 hospitals$132 – $171: 194 hospitals$132$171 – $222: 226 hospitals$222 – $288: 117 hospitals$222$288 – $374: 150 hospitals$374 – $485: 70 hospitals$374$485 – $630: 71 hospitals$485median $166price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,333 of 1,479 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$46$6042
$60$7887
$78$101151
$101$132225
$132$171194
$171$222226
$222$288117
$288$374150
$374$48570
$485$63071

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $166.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $87 across 13 hospitalsME$87Vermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $199 across 25 hospitalsWA$199Idaho: median $298 across 15 hospitalsID$298Montana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $226 across 12 hospitalsND$226Minnesota: median $97 across 52 hospitalsMN$97Illinois: median $228 across 52 hospitalsIL$228Wisconsin: median $199 across 80 hospitalsWI$199Michigan: median $130 across 34 hospitalsMI$130New York: median $176 across 41 hospitalsNY$176Massachusetts: median $317 across 43 hospitalsMA$317Oregon: median $216 across 28 hospitalsOR$216Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $302 across 13 hospitalsSD$302Iowa: median $155 across 38 hospitalsIA$155Indiana: median $140 across 60 hospitalsIN$140Ohio: median $167 across 82 hospitalsOH$167Pennsylvania: median $210 across 76 hospitalsPA$210New Jersey: median $110 across 45 hospitalsNJ$110Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $243 across 58 hospitalsCA$243Utah: median $170 across 24 hospitalsUT$170Colorado: median $179 across 32 hospitalsCO$179Nebraska: median $227 across 19 hospitalsNE$227Missouri: median $155 across 50 hospitalsMO$155Kentucky: median $170 across 29 hospitalsKY$170West Virginia: median $139 across 24 hospitalsWV$139Virginia: median $273 across 25 hospitalsVA$273Maryland: median $106 across 25 hospitalsMD$106Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $228 across 25 hospitalsAZ$228New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $186 across 33 hospitalsKS$186Arkansas: median $88 across 24 hospitalsAR$88Tennessee: median $73 across 15 hospitalsTN$73North Carolina: median $259 across 17 hospitalsNC$259South Carolina: median $151 across 23 hospitalsSC$151Oklahoma: median $116 across 39 hospitalsOK$116Louisiana: median $127 across 37 hospitalsLA$127Mississippi: median $89 across 11 hospitalsMS$89Alabama: median $128 across 15 hospitalsAL$128Georgia: median $149 across 57 hospitalsGA$149Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $185 across 136 hospitalsTX$185Florida: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $166. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Massachusetts MA43$317+90%$164 – $533
South Dakota SD13$302+81%$159 – $326
Idaho ID15$298+79%$96 – $770
Virginia VA25$273+64%$137 – $356
North Carolina NC17$259+56%$26 – $259
California CA58$243+46%$168 – $471
Arizona AZ25$228+37%$115 – $360
Illinois IL52$228+37%$118 – $384
Nebraska NE19$227+36%$145 – $253
North Dakota ND12$226+36%$117 – $262
Oregon OR28$216+30%$99 – $322
Pennsylvania PA76$210+26%$100 – $698
Washington WA25$199+19%$134 – $319
Wisconsin WI80$199+19%$116 – $295
Kansas KS33$186+12%$90 – $688
Texas TX136$185+11%$82 – $320
Colorado CO32$179+8%$129 – $257
New York NY41$176+6%$100 – $319
Kentucky KY29$170+2%$98 – $313
Utah UT24$170+2%$170 – $200
Ohio OH82$1670%$122 – $303
Missouri MO50$155−7%$82 – $216
Iowa IA38$155−7%$110 – $222
South Carolina SC23$151−9%$151 – $250
Georgia GA57$149−10%$51 – $194
Indiana IN60$140−16%$74 – $313
West Virginia WV24$139−16%$139 – $174
Michigan MI34$130−22%$32 – $155
Alabama AL15$128−23%$62 – $391
Louisiana LA37$127−24%$57 – $180
Oklahoma OK39$116−30%$65 – $157
New Jersey NJ45$110−34%$100 – $115
Maryland MD25$106−36%$71 – $125
Minnesota MN52$97−41%$63 – $191
Mississippi MS11$89−47%$40 – $100
Arkansas AR24$88−47%$60 – $166
Maine ME13$87−48%$67 – $156
Tennessee TN15$73−56%$59 – $145
Florida FL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $166.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,128$163$89 – $313
Children’s27$134$106 – $260
Critical access320$177$114 – $305
Ownership
For-profit176$170$87 – $366
Government194$145$87 – $259
Non-profit1,105$170$97 – $313
System affiliation
Part of a system1,290$167$96 – $317
Independent189$158$93 – $284

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$300
Median cash price$166
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

1,053 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $174 and the average of the middle 60% is $185; most fall between $95 and $320.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,053 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
$65$110$174$291$500

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($65 vs $500).

Of the 1,139 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,053 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 36 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,479 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 1,597 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,479
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here82
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 — excluded35
Hospitals that filed this code1,597

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 PR Occ Hlth Lab - T Spot TB.

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, “Tuberculosis blood test counting responding immune cells (CPT 86481) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-86481-tuberculosis-blood-test-counting-responding-immune-cells