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

HIV-2 genetic test, amplified method

CPT 87538the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that detects HIV-2 genetic material by copying it many times so it can be found, including the reverse transcription step when performed.

Hospitals typically charge $125 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,643 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $142. Most fall between $56 and $302 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,643
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 1,643 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
$36$66$125$257$427

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($36 vs $427).

How the prices are spread

$27 – $37: 94 hospitals$27$37 – $51: 116 hospitals$51 – $70: 149 hospitals$51$70 – $95: 182 hospitals$95 – $129: 220 hospitals$95$129 – $176: 194 hospitals$176 – $240: 159 hospitals$176$240 – $327: 154 hospitals$327 – $445: 140 hospitals$327$445 – $606: 75 hospitals$445median $125price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,483 of 1,643 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$27$3794
$37$51116
$51$70149
$70$95182
$95$129220
$129$176194
$176$240159
$240$327154
$327$445140
$445$60675

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $125.

Alaska: median $131 across 12 hospitalsAK$131Maine: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $206 across 11 hospitalsNH$206Washington: median $99 across 41 hospitalsWA$99Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: median $111 across 14 hospitalsMT$111North Dakota: median $66 across 14 hospitalsND$66Minnesota: median $146 across 54 hospitalsMN$146Illinois: median $147 across 60 hospitalsIL$147Wisconsin: median $194 across 44 hospitalsWI$194Michigan: median $150 across 33 hospitalsMI$150New York: median $100 across 65 hospitalsNY$100Massachusetts: median $115 across 34 hospitalsMA$115Oregon: median $104 across 18 hospitalsOR$104Nevada: median $106 across 11 hospitalsNV$106Wyoming: 8 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 $67 across 31 hospitalsIA$67Indiana: median $80 across 63 hospitalsIN$80Ohio: median $157 across 88 hospitalsOH$157Pennsylvania: median $148 across 64 hospitalsPA$148New Jersey: median $39 across 49 hospitalsNJ$39Connecticut: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $313 across 62 hospitalsCA$313Utah: median $162 across 32 hospitalsUT$162Colorado: median $98 across 24 hospitalsCO$98Nebraska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $122 across 42 hospitalsMO$122Kentucky: median $276 across 40 hospitalsKY$276West Virginia: median $150 across 18 hospitalsWV$150Virginia: median $111 across 61 hospitalsVA$111Maryland: median $345 across 22 hospitalsMD$345Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $68 across 14 hospitalsAZ$68New Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $88 across 22 hospitalsKS$88Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $62 across 48 hospitalsTN$62North Carolina: median $75 across 59 hospitalsNC$75South Carolina: median $341 across 34 hospitalsSC$341Oklahoma: median $159 across 31 hospitalsOK$159Louisiana: median $65 across 35 hospitalsLA$65Mississippi: median $77 across 28 hospitalsMS$77Alabama: median $112 across 16 hospitalsAL$112Georgia: median $142 across 60 hospitalsGA$142Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $134 across 132 hospitalsTX$134Florida: median $119 across 79 hospitalsFL$119
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $125. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD22$345+177%$257 – $384
South Carolina SC34$341+173%$87 – $362
California CA62$313+151%$70 – $353
Kentucky KY40$276+121%$80 – $375
New Hampshire NH11$206+65%$173 – $221
Wisconsin WI44$194+55%$57 – $650
Utah UT32$162+30%$116 – $190
Oklahoma OK31$159+27%$42 – $236
Ohio OH88$157+26%$78 – $376
West Virginia WV18$150+20%$150 – $150
Michigan MI33$150+20%$21 – $278
Pennsylvania PA64$148+19%$35 – $520
Illinois IL60$147+18%$53 – $339
Minnesota MN54$146+17%$86 – $427
Georgia GA60$142+13%$80 – $234
Texas TX132$134+7%$101 – $238
Alaska AK12$131+5%$104 – $286
Missouri MO42$122−3%$77 – $263
Florida FL79$119−4%$70 – $361
Massachusetts MA34$115−8%$72 – $270
Alabama AL16$112−10%$53 – $228
Montana MT14$111−11%$88 – $235
Virginia VA61$111−11%$36 – $489
Nevada NV11$106−15%$64 – $181
Oregon OR18$104−17%$70 – $199
New York NY65$100−20%$35 – $258
Washington WA41$99−20%$72 – $142
Colorado CO24$98−22%$82 – $189
Kansas KS22$88−29%$35 – $332
Indiana IN63$80−36%$56 – $121
Mississippi MS28$77−38%$22 – $189
North Carolina NC59$75−40%$55 – $211
Arizona AZ14$68−45%$38 – $421
Iowa IA31$67−46%$34 – $118
North Dakota ND14$66−47%$59 – $242
Louisiana LA35$65−48%$34 – $247
Tennessee TN48$62−51%$30 – $151
New Jersey NJ49$39−69%$35 – $336
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not 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 $125.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,301$125$52 – $313
Children’s22$114$72 – $325
Critical access312$123$68 – $254
Ownership
For-profit224$129$53 – $390
Government211$114$63 – $231
Non-profit1,200$127$55 – $308
System affiliation
Part of a system1,406$127$56 – $313
Independent237$110$57 – $242

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$218
Median cash price$125
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

1,135 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $126 and the average of the middle 60% is $146; most fall between $62 and $320.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,135 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$70$126$259$428

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($42 vs $428).

Of the 1,290 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,135 gave a usable cash price; 88 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 67 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,643 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (42%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,827 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,643
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here110
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 — excluded73
Hospitals that filed this code1,827

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 HIV-2 PROBE&REVRSE TRNSCRIPJ.

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, “HIV-2 genetic test, amplified method (CPT 87538) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87538-hiv-2-genetic-test-amplified-method