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

Chromosome breakage test, 50 to 100 cells scored

CPT 88248the billing code this page is about

Microscope study of chromosomes for baseline breaks and gaps as a check for chromosome breakage disorders, with 50 to 100 cells scored.

Hospitals typically charge $449 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 559 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $501. Most fall between $199 and $1,067 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
559
States
41
Filings dated
Jun 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 559 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
$173$235$449$896$1,727

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($173 vs $1,727).

How the prices are spread

$135 – $182: 74 hospitals$135$182 – $246: 56 hospitals$246 – $333: 61 hospitals$246$333 – $451: 69 hospitals$451 – $609: 69 hospitals$451$609 – $824: 58 hospitals$824 – $1,114: 45 hospitals$824$1,114 – $1,507: 29 hospitals$1,507 – $2,037: 40 hospitals$1,507$2,037 – $2,755: 14 hospitals$2,037median $449price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (515 of 559 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$135$18274
$182$24656
$246$33361
$333$45169
$451$60969
$609$82458
$824$1,11445
$1,114$1,50729
$1,507$2,03740
$2,037$2,75514

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $449.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: median $698 across 10 hospitalsWA$698Idaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNDMinnesota: median $482 across 10 hospitalsMN$482Illinois: median $434 across 34 hospitalsIL$434Wisconsin: median $405 across 15 hospitalsWI$405Michigan: median $239 across 13 hospitalsMI$239New York: median $208 across 29 hospitalsNY$208Massachusetts: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $434 across 13 hospitalsIA$434Indiana: median $353 across 27 hospitalsIN$353Ohio: median $519 across 34 hospitalsOH$519Pennsylvania: median $173 across 19 hospitalsPA$173New Jersey: median $190 across 35 hospitalsNJ$190Connecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,618 across 25 hospitalsCA$1,618Utah: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,053 across 18 hospitalsCO$1,053Nebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: median $643 across 17 hospitalsKY$643West Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $180 across 21 hospitalsVA$180Maryland: median $857 across 15 hospitalsMD$857Delaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $143 across 19 hospitalsTN$143North Carolina: median $1,047 across 18 hospitalsNC$1,047South Carolina: median $723 across 17 hospitalsSC$723Oklahoma: median $317 across 13 hospitalsOK$317Louisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $529 across 21 hospitalsGA$529Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $302 across 43 hospitalsTX$302Florida: median $479 across 25 hospitalsFL$479
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $449. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA25$1,618+261%$874 – $1,618
Colorado CO18$1,053+135%$992 – $2,755
North Carolina NC18$1,047+133%$176 – $1,900
Maryland MD15$857+91%$668 – $1,175
South Carolina SC17$723+61%$723 – $953
Washington WA10$698+56%$261 – $902
Kentucky KY17$643+43%$501 – $1,128
Georgia GA21$529+18%$529 – $529
Ohio OH34$519+16%$475 – $598
Minnesota MN10$482+7%$393 – $482
Florida FL25$479+7%$135 – $1,921
Iowa IA13$434−3%$434 – $434
Illinois IL34$434−3%$249 – $1,000
Wisconsin WI15$405−10%$31 – $405
Indiana IN27$353−21%$244 – $886
Oklahoma OK13$317−29%$303 – $520
Texas TX43$302−33%$257 – $2,004
Michigan MI13$239−47%$151 – $482
New York NY29$208−54%$173 – $812
New Jersey NJ35$190−58%$173 – $3,321
Virginia VA21$180−60%$143 – $1,995
Pennsylvania PA19$173−61%$114 – $260
Tennessee TN19$143−68%$143 – $338
Massachusetts MA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $449.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care494$456$190 – $1,129
Children’s21$406$334 – $705
Critical access44$434$257 – $746
Ownership
For-profit79$698$260 – $2,004
Government52$359$173 – $729
Non-profit428$434$190 – $1,000
System affiliation
Part of a system498$434$190 – $1,111
Independent61$475$222 – $932

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$940
Median cash price$449
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

359 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $506 and the average of the middle 60% is $510; most fall between $256 and $943.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 359 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
$180$267$506$795$1,618

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($180 vs $1,618).

Of the 385 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 359 gave a usable cash price; 16 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 10 a list price only.

How complete is this

559 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (14%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 587 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted559
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here15
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 — excluded12
Hospitals that filed this code587

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 23, 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 Chromosome Anal:Breakge,50-100 Cells.

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, “Chromosome breakage test, 50 to 100 cells scored (CPT 88248) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88248-chromosome-breakage-test-50-to-100-cells-scored