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Procedure price report · Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology)

Legionella antigen test by fluorescent staining

CPT 87278the billing code this page is about

Laboratory test that uses fluorescent-labeled antibody staining to detect Legionella pneumophila antigen directly in a specimen.

Hospitals typically charge $73 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,563 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $79. Most fall between $32 and $162 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,563
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 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 1,563 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
$20$37$73$138$262

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($20 vs $262).

How the prices are spread

$16 – $22: 119 hospitals$16$22 – $32: 116 hospitals$32 – $44: 181 hospitals$32$44 – $62: 198 hospitals$62 – $87: 249 hospitals$62$87 – $123: 164 hospitals$123 – $173: 165 hospitals$123$173 – $242: 116 hospitals$242 – $340: 78 hospitals$242$340 – $478: 25 hospitals$340median $73price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,411 of 1,563 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$16$22119
$22$32116
$32$44181
$44$62198
$62$87249
$87$123164
$123$173165
$173$242116
$242$34078
$340$47825

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $73.

Alaska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 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 $60 across 41 hospitalsWA$60Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $133 across 65 hospitalsIL$133Wisconsin: median $69 across 38 hospitalsWI$69Michigan: median $26 across 35 hospitalsMI$26New York: median $37 across 57 hospitalsNY$37Massachusetts: median $53 across 26 hospitalsMA$53Oregon: median $68 across 20 hospitalsOR$68Nevada: median $47 across 11 hospitalsNV$47Wyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $39 across 23 hospitalsIA$39Indiana: median $64 across 60 hospitalsIN$64Ohio: median $86 across 78 hospitalsOH$86Pennsylvania: median $65 across 53 hospitalsPA$65New Jersey: median $17 across 40 hospitalsNJ$17Connecticut: median $64 across 10 hospitalsCT$64Rhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $42 across 93 hospitalsCA$42Utah: median $160 across 34 hospitalsUT$160Colorado: median $122 across 30 hospitalsCO$122Nebraska: median $111 across 19 hospitalsNE$111Missouri: median $65 across 25 hospitalsMO$65Kentucky: median $88 across 42 hospitalsKY$88West Virginia: median $59 across 14 hospitalsWV$59Virginia: median $102 across 57 hospitalsVA$102Maryland: median $68 across 27 hospitalsMD$68Delaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $138 across 30 hospitalsAZ$138New Mexico: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $133 across 15 hospitalsKS$133Arkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $46 across 50 hospitalsTN$46North Carolina: median $52 across 54 hospitalsNC$52South Carolina: median $79 across 41 hospitalsSC$79Oklahoma: median $52 across 34 hospitalsOK$52Louisiana: median $54 across 27 hospitalsLA$54Mississippi: median $51 across 26 hospitalsMS$51Alabama: median $43 across 18 hospitalsAL$43Georgia: median $65 across 59 hospitalsGA$65Hawaii: median $142 across 12 hospitalsHI$142Texas: median $126 across 139 hospitalsTX$126Florida: median $85 across 85 hospitalsFL$85
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $73. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT34$160+119%$160 – $224
Hawaii HI12$142+95%$80 – $198
Arizona AZ30$138+89%$18 – $291
Kansas KS15$133+82%$45 – $190
Illinois IL65$133+82%$36 – $237
Texas TX139$126+73%$55 – $500
Colorado CO30$122+67%$61 – $338
Nebraska NE19$111+53%$34 – $186
Virginia VA57$102+40%$20 – $205
Kentucky KY42$88+20%$47 – $145
Ohio OH78$86+17%$60 – $121
Florida FL85$85+17%$33 – $183
South Carolina SC41$79+8%$46 – $146
Wisconsin WI38$69−5%$42 – $75
Maryland MD27$68−7%$50 – $81
Oregon OR20$68−8%$38 – $144
Missouri MO25$65−10%$54 – $295
Pennsylvania PA53$65−11%$15 – $176
Georgia GA59$65−12%$33 – $151
Indiana IN60$64−12%$23 – $164
Connecticut CT10$64−12%$44 – $86
Washington WA41$60−18%$39 – $160
West Virginia WV14$59−19%$52 – $68
Louisiana LA27$54−26%$27 – $92
Massachusetts MA26$53−27%$33 – $99
North Carolina NC54$52−29%$29 – $185
Oklahoma OK34$52−29%$34 – $118
Mississippi MS26$51−30%$22 – $122
Nevada NV11$47−36%$12 – $82
Tennessee TN50$46−37%$20 – $206
Alabama AL18$43−41%$17 – $107
California CA93$42−42%$16 – $76
Iowa IA23$39−47%$39 – $55
New York NY57$37−49%$16 – $70
Michigan MI35$26−64%$21 – $53
New Jersey NJ40$17−76%$16 – $37
Alaska AK9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not 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 $73.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,325$70$31 – $170
Children’s19fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access212$76$36 – $148
Ownership
For-profit314$115$33 – $442
Government182$62$31 – $126
Non-profit1,060$70$31 – $144
System affiliation
Part of a system1,377$75$32 – $166
Independent186$62$30 – $133

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$123
Median cash price$73
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

1,099 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $75 and the average of the middle 60% is $80; most fall between $34 and $160.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,099 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$39$75$127$214

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($24 vs $214).

Of the 1,225 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,099 gave a usable cash price; 72 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 54 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,563 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (40%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,720 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,563
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here103
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded54
Hospitals that filed this code1,720

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 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as LEGION PNEUMOPHILIA AG IF.

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, “Legionella antigen test by fluorescent staining (CPT 87278) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87278-legionella-antigen-test-by-fluorescent-staining