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

Cell culture of amniotic fluid or placental tissue

CPT 88235the billing code this page is about

Growing cells from amniotic fluid or chorionic villus sampling in the laboratory so chromosomes can be studied; covers the culture step only.

Hospitals typically charge $405 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,469 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $412. Most fall between $185 and $728 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,469
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 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 1,469 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
$133$216$405$669$1,110

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($133 vs $1,110).

How the prices are spread

$98 – $130: 67 hospitals$98$130 – $172: 114 hospitals$172 – $227: 162 hospitals$172$227 – $301: 146 hospitals$301 – $398: 169 hospitals$301$398 – $527: 218 hospitals$527 – $698: 195 hospitals$527$698 – $924: 108 hospitals$924 – $1,223: 100 hospitals$924$1,223 – $1,619: 53 hospitals$1,223median $405price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,332 of 1,469 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$98$13067
$130$172114
$172$227162
$227$301146
$301$398169
$398$527218
$527$698195
$698$924108
$924$1,223100
$1,223$1,61953

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $405.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $321 across 15 hospitalsME$321Vermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $436 across 10 hospitalsNH$436Washington: median $518 across 35 hospitalsWA$518Idaho: median $239 across 12 hospitalsID$239Montana: 7 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 $288 across 28 hospitalsMN$288Illinois: median $406 across 74 hospitalsIL$406Wisconsin: median $484 across 72 hospitalsWI$484Michigan: median $572 across 65 hospitalsMI$572New York: median $326 across 63 hospitalsNY$326Massachusetts: median $412 across 25 hospitalsMA$412Oregon: median $306 across 13 hospitalsOR$306Nevada: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $214 across 26 hospitalsIA$214Indiana: median $259 across 46 hospitalsIN$259Ohio: median $542 across 97 hospitalsOH$542Pennsylvania: median $402 across 68 hospitalsPA$402New Jersey: median $165 across 37 hospitalsNJ$165Connecticut: median $673 across 10 hospitalsCT$673Rhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $296 across 55 hospitalsCA$296Utah: median $1,067 across 29 hospitalsUT$1,067Colorado: median $448 across 35 hospitalsCO$448Nebraska: median $473 across 14 hospitalsNE$473Missouri: median $369 across 41 hospitalsMO$369Kentucky: median $521 across 23 hospitalsKY$521West Virginia: median $390 across 16 hospitalsWV$390Virginia: median $281 across 28 hospitalsVA$281Maryland: median $397 across 26 hospitalsMD$397Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $551 across 30 hospitalsAZ$551New Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $669 across 16 hospitalsKS$669Arkansas: median $416 across 14 hospitalsAR$416Tennessee: median $133 across 26 hospitalsTN$133North Carolina: median $326 across 58 hospitalsNC$326South Carolina: median $218 across 25 hospitalsSC$218Oklahoma: median $312 across 27 hospitalsOK$312Louisiana: median $107 across 18 hospitalsLA$107Mississippi: median $279 across 12 hospitalsMS$279Alabama: median $606 across 13 hospitalsAL$606Georgia: median $450 across 42 hospitalsGA$450Hawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $563 across 102 hospitalsTX$563Florida: median $161 across 66 hospitalsFL$161
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $405. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT29$1,067+163%$879 – $1,255
Connecticut CT10$673+66%$360 – $788
Kansas KS16$669+65%$507 – $724
Alabama AL13$606+49%$234 – $1,726
Michigan MI65$572+41%$160 – $731
Texas TX102$563+39%$224 – $1,110
Arizona AZ30$551+36%$173 – $2,331
Ohio OH97$542+34%$344 – $712
Kentucky KY23$521+28%$150 – $1,619
Washington WA35$518+28%$265 – $767
Wisconsin WI72$484+19%$260 – $849
Nebraska NE14$473+17%$146 – $715
Georgia GA42$450+11%$293 – $450
Colorado CO35$448+11%$215 – $1,358
New Hampshire NH10$436+8%$313 – $786
Arkansas AR14$416+3%$99 – $427
Massachusetts MA25$412+2%$251 – $693
Illinois IL74$4060%$221 – $705
Pennsylvania PA68$402−1%$150 – $1,136
Maryland MD26$397−2%$314 – $468
West Virginia WV16$390−4%$204 – $752
Missouri MO41$369−9%$313 – $523
North Carolina NC58$326−19%$251 – $669
New York NY63$326−20%$151 – $673
Maine ME15$321−21%$209 – $429
Oklahoma OK27$312−23%$263 – $463
Oregon OR13$306−24%$111 – $546
California CA55$296−27%$81 – $409
Minnesota MN28$288−29%$93 – $610
Virginia VA28$281−31%$98 – $491
Mississippi MS12$279−31%$148 – $316
Indiana IN46$259−36%$191 – $405
Idaho ID12$239−41%$239 – $620
South Carolina SC25$218−46%$218 – $468
Iowa IA26$214−47%$180 – $522
New Jersey NJ37$165−59%$150 – $173
Florida FL66$161−60%$104 – $450
Tennessee TN26$133−67%$121 – $176
Louisiana LA18$107−74%$50 – $347
Nevada NV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not 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 $405.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,213$387$173 – $722
Children’s29$387$205 – $879
Critical access221$440$239 – $777
Ownership
For-profit166$532$236 – $1,191
Government161$345$151 – $669
Non-profit1,136$390$180 – $712
System affiliation
Part of a system1,305$409$180 – $731
Independent164$366$194 – $659

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$689
Median cash price$405
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

1,085 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $423 and the average of the middle 60% is $435; most fall between $207 and $723.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,085 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
$140$226$423$669$1,067

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($140 vs $1,067).

Of the 1,196 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,085 gave a usable cash price; 75 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

1,469 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 1,602 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,469
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here90
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 — excluded43
Hospitals that filed this code1,602

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 Amniotic Fluid Culture Genetic.

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, “Cell culture of amniotic fluid or placental tissue (CPT 88235) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88235-cell-culture-of-amniotic-fluid-or-placental-tissue