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

DNA test for Lyme disease bacteria

CPT 87476the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that amplifies and detects genetic material from Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, in a patient sample.

Hospitals typically charge $156 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,253 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $172. Most fall between $70 and $352 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,253
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 2,253 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
$42$82$156$300$550

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($42 vs $550).

How the prices are spread

$34 – $46: 150 hospitals$34$46 – $63: 138 hospitals$63 – $86: 196 hospitals$63$86 – $117: 251 hospitals$117 – $160: 340 hospitals$117$160 – $218: 224 hospitals$218 – $297: 278 hospitals$218$297 – $405: 198 hospitals$405 – $552: 144 hospitals$405$552 – $752: 112 hospitals$552median $156price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,031 of 2,253 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$34$46150
$46$63138
$63$86196
$86$117251
$117$160340
$160$218224
$218$297278
$297$405198
$405$552144
$552$752112

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $156.

Alaska: median $262 across 11 hospitalsAK$262Maine: median $90 across 19 hospitalsME$90Vermont: median $180 across 14 hospitalsVT$180New Hampshire: median $196 across 21 hospitalsNH$196Washington: median $142 across 43 hospitalsWA$142Idaho: median $118 across 15 hospitalsID$118Montana: median $97 across 14 hospitalsMT$97North Dakota: median $129 across 21 hospitalsND$129Minnesota: median $164 across 94 hospitalsMN$164Illinois: median $228 across 97 hospitalsIL$228Wisconsin: median $204 across 84 hospitalsWI$204Michigan: median $44 across 47 hospitalsMI$44New York: median $120 across 96 hospitalsNY$120Massachusetts: median $153 across 47 hospitalsMA$153Oregon: median $107 across 30 hospitalsOR$107Nevada: median $142 across 13 hospitalsNV$142Wyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $266 across 21 hospitalsSD$266Iowa: median $139 across 51 hospitalsIA$139Indiana: median $113 across 71 hospitalsIN$113Ohio: median $157 across 106 hospitalsOH$157Pennsylvania: median $178 across 90 hospitalsPA$178New Jersey: median $39 across 51 hospitalsNJ$39Connecticut: median $122 across 19 hospitalsCT$122Rhode Island: median $149 across 10 hospitalsRI$149California: median $96 across 52 hospitalsCA$96Utah: median $156 across 37 hospitalsUT$156Colorado: median $245 across 49 hospitalsCO$245Nebraska: median $289 across 34 hospitalsNE$289Missouri: median $172 across 58 hospitalsMO$172Kentucky: median $348 across 58 hospitalsKY$348West Virginia: median $175 across 21 hospitalsWV$175Virginia: median $255 across 61 hospitalsVA$255Maryland: median $329 across 38 hospitalsMD$329Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $295 across 30 hospitalsAZ$295New Mexico: median $154 across 20 hospitalsNM$154Kansas: median $216 across 41 hospitalsKS$216Arkansas: median $168 across 21 hospitalsAR$168Tennessee: median $87 across 49 hospitalsTN$87North Carolina: median $123 across 76 hospitalsNC$123South Carolina: median $305 across 41 hospitalsSC$305Oklahoma: median $173 across 44 hospitalsOK$173Louisiana: median $81 across 36 hospitalsLA$81Mississippi: median $78 across 32 hospitalsMS$78Alabama: median $114 across 21 hospitalsAL$114Georgia: median $293 across 70 hospitalsGA$293Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $147 across 157 hospitalsTX$147Florida: median $133 across 103 hospitalsFL$133
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $156. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Kentucky KY58$348+123%$105 – $560
Maryland MD38$329+111%$251 – $390
South Carolina SC41$305+95%$131 – $336
Arizona AZ30$295+88%$54 – $481
Georgia GA70$293+88%$78 – $626
Nebraska NE34$289+85%$86 – $554
South Dakota SD21$266+70%$89 – $438
Alaska AK11$262+68%$121 – $370
Virginia VA61$255+63%$121 – $378
Colorado CO49$245+57%$122 – $386
Illinois IL97$228+46%$121 – $430
Kansas KS41$216+38%$93 – $617
Wisconsin WI84$204+30%$149 – $282
New Hampshire NH21$196+25%$80 – $343
Vermont VT14$180+15%$98 – $528
Pennsylvania PA90$178+14%$40 – $526
West Virginia WV21$175+12%$125 – $468
Oklahoma OK44$173+11%$62 – $248
Missouri MO58$172+10%$149 – $344
Arkansas AR21$168+8%$59 – $240
Minnesota MN94$164+5%$69 – $229
Ohio OH106$157+1%$101 – $392
Utah UT37$1560%$133 – $349
New Mexico NM20$154−2%$111 – $226
Massachusetts MA47$153−2%$90 – $341
Rhode Island RI10$149−5%$76 – $285
Texas TX157$147−6%$72 – $722
Nevada NV13$142−9%$37 – $186
Washington WA43$142−9%$100 – $257
Iowa IA51$139−11%$67 – $308
Florida FL103$133−15%$70 – $231
North Dakota ND21$129−18%$61 – $237
North Carolina NC76$123−22%$79 – $312
Connecticut CT19$122−22%$95 – $158
New York NY96$120−23%$42 – $256
Idaho ID15$118−24%$107 – $213
Alabama AL21$114−27%$50 – $292
Indiana IN71$113−27%$57 – $366
Oregon OR30$107−32%$62 – $195
Montana MT14$97−38%$41 – $162
California CA52$96−38%$37 – $103
Maine ME19$90−43%$36 – $219
Tennessee TN49$87−45%$32 – $549
Louisiana LA36$81−48%$45 – $141
Mississippi MS32$78−50%$47 – $136
Michigan MI47$44−72%$23 – $105
New Jersey NJ51$39−75%$35 – $104
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not 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 $156.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,702$150$65 – $352
Children’s34$145$88 – $381
Critical access510$177$92 – $352
Ownership
For-profit335$175$70 – $664
Government312$148$78 – $352
Non-profit1,599$156$68 – $316
System affiliation
Part of a system1,934$156$69 – $354
Independent319$153$74 – $337

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$268
Median cash price$156
Cash as a share of list, median hospital61%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 39%. 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

1,582 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $157 and the average of the middle 60% is $169; most fall between $73 and $327.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,582 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
$47$89$157$281$495

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($47 vs $495).

Of the 1,720 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,582 gave a usable cash price; 68 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 70 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,253 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (57%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,428 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,253
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here98
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded75
Hospitals that filed this code2,428

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 Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Lyme Pcr, Blood.

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, “DNA test for Lyme disease bacteria (CPT 87476) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87476-dna-test-for-lyme-disease-bacteria