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

Chromosome breakage test after chemical stress, 100 cells

CPT 88249the billing code this page is about

Microscope study of chromosomes after cells are exposed to an agent that provokes breakage, with about 100 cells scored, used in testing for chromosome breakage disorders.

Hospitals typically charge $441 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 644 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $472. Most fall between $192 and $989 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
644
States
44
Filings dated
Dec 2024 – 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 644 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
$166$206$441$796$1,618

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($166 vs $1,618).

How the prices are spread

$108 – $145: 27 hospitals$108$145 – $194: 72 hospitals$194 – $261: 89 hospitals$194$261 – $351: 64 hospitals$351 – $472: 51 hospitals$351$472 – $634: 83 hospitals$634 – $852: 74 hospitals$634$852 – $1,146: 46 hospitals$1,146 – $1,540: 35 hospitals$1,146$1,540 – $2,070: 41 hospitals$1,540median $441price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (582 of 644 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$108$14527
$145$19472
$194$26189
$261$35164
$351$47251
$472$63483
$634$85274
$852$1,14646
$1,146$1,54035
$1,540$2,07041

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $441.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: median $370 across 19 hospitalsWA$370Idaho: 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 $203 across 22 hospitalsMN$203Illinois: median $228 across 27 hospitalsIL$228Wisconsin: median $692 across 22 hospitalsWI$692Michigan: median $203 across 11 hospitalsMI$203New York: median $208 across 28 hospitalsNY$208Massachusetts: median $645 across 18 hospitalsMA$645Oregon: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $166 across 11 hospitalsIA$166Indiana: median $305 across 16 hospitalsIN$305Ohio: median $569 across 51 hospitalsOH$569Pennsylvania: median $326 across 32 hospitalsPA$326New Jersey: median $190 across 25 hospitalsNJ$190Connecticut: 4 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 26 hospitalsCA$1,618Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $242 across 10 hospitalsCO$242Nebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $528 across 14 hospitalsMO$528Kentucky: median $618 across 15 hospitalsKY$618West Virginia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $544 across 28 hospitalsVA$544Maryland: median $1,337 across 20 hospitalsMD$1,337Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $746 across 10 hospitalsKS$746Arkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $292 across 34 hospitalsNC$292South Carolina: median $205 across 15 hospitalsSC$205Oklahoma: median $303 across 22 hospitalsOK$303Louisiana: median $274 across 15 hospitalsLA$274Mississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $1,080 across 15 hospitalsGA$1,080Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $705 across 55 hospitalsTX$705Florida: median $173 across 28 hospitalsFL$173
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $441. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA26$1,618+267%$1,618 – $1,618
Maryland MD20$1,337+203%$994 – $1,489
Georgia GA15$1,080+145%$552 – $3,497
Kansas KS10$746+69%$522 – $1,176
Texas TX55$705+60%$413 – $1,421
Wisconsin WI22$692+57%$339 – $884
Massachusetts MA18$645+46%$538 – $1,755
Kentucky KY15$618+40%$163 – $618
Ohio OH51$569+29%$519 – $796
Virginia VA28$544+23%$184 – $898
Missouri MO14$528+20%$523 – $707
Washington WA19$370−16%$351 – $902
Pennsylvania PA32$326−26%$125 – $1,664
Indiana IN16$305−31%$277 – $395
Oklahoma OK22$303−31%$182 – $303
North Carolina NC34$292−34%$176 – $1,900
Louisiana LA15$274−38%$77 – $322
Colorado CO10$242−45%$242 – $1,087
Illinois IL27$228−48%$209 – $557
New York NY28$208−53%$173 – $635
South Carolina SC15$205−53%$205 – $520
Minnesota MN22$203−54%$29 – $247
Michigan MI11$203−54%$102 – $239
New Jersey NJ25$190−57%$173 – $190
Florida FL28$173−61%$85 – $1,400
Iowa IA11$166−62%$166 – $166
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $441.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care554$419$190 – $984
Children’s38$519$339 – $2,070
Critical access48$522$259 – $776
Ownership
For-profit47$552$228 – $2,018
Government74$334$173 – $746
Non-profit519$441$190 – $953
System affiliation
Part of a system582$435$190 – $989
Independent62$457$206 – $874

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$826
Median cash price$441
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

444 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $519 and the average of the middle 60% is $505; most fall between $205 and $1,047.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 444 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
$166$242$519$844$1,618

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($166 vs $1,618).

Of the 502 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 444 gave a usable cash price; 42 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 16 a list price only.

How complete is this

644 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (16%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 719 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted644
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here57
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 — excluded17
Hospitals that filed this code719

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 Clastogen Tx Fanconi's Anemia.

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 after chemical stress, 100 cells (CPT 88249) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88249-chromosome-breakage-test-after-chemical-stress-100-cells