CPT 82042 · 1,555 hospitals reporting

Cerebrospinal fluid; or amniotic fluid albumin (protein) level

The same procedure costs $50 at one hospital and $529 at another — a 11× spread for what's billed under the same code. Median: $77.14.

Cheapest published

$50

712 entries below $50 already filtered. Remaining low values usually reflect partial-cost line items (professional fee only), not full bills.

Median across 1,555 hospitals

$77.14

The realistic middle of the cash-price distribution. Use this as your benchmark.

Most expensive

$529

Highest published price. Often a gross-charge "list price" rarely actually paid.

Price distribution

263 hospitals · log-scale x-axis

Each bar = number of hospitals charging in that price range. Emerald bar contains the median. Amber dots = entries we flagged as likely partial-cost line items (excluded from the table below).

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Why some prices look unrealistically low or high

Hospitals publish their machine-readable files (MRFs) the way they choose. A single procedure code can appear with very different prices depending on what's being charged:

Global price — facility + implant + anesthesia + surgeon. This is what you'd actually be billed.
Professional fee only — surgeon's portion. Often $500–$2,500 for a major procedure that costs $20K+ globally.
Facility fee only — operating room and recovery, no implant or surgeon.
Per-unit / per-minute charges — e.g. anesthesia time billed at $0.68/min appearing under a CPT code.
Rate multipliers — values like 0.85 meaning "85% of Medicare" rather than dollars.

We filter the most obvious artifacts (under $50, or 25× above the median), but rows in the $500–$2K range for a major procedure are typically professional-only and we can't always tell. Use the median and high-end as the realistic range; treat very low rows as partial-cost line items, not full bills.

500 hospitals reporting

Hospital	State	Gross	Cash price	Min negotiated	Max negotiated	Your insurer
ADVENTHEALTH SHAWNEE MISSION	KS	$154	$77.14	$5.11	$139	5 insurers
CENTRAL CAROLINA HOSPITAL	NC	$194	$77.52	—	—	4 insurers
JENNIE M MELHAM MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER	NE	$76.75	$76.75	—	—	1 insurers
CHI HEALTH SCHUYLER	NE	$90	$76.5	$81.23	$88.2	5 insurers
CHI HEALTH SCHUYLER	NE	$90	$76.5	$7.78	$88.2	5 insurers
MERCY HOSPITAL OF FOLSOM	CA	$200	$77.8	$22	$164	5 insurers
MERCY HOSPITAL OF FOLSOM	CA	$200	$77.8	$2.83	$184	5 insurers
MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER	NM	$127	$76.3	—	—	2 insurers
UNIVERSITY OF MD ST JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER	MD	$78	$78	—	—	4 insurers
NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN/QUEENS	NY	—	$78	$4	$140	5 insurers
MONUMENT HEALTH SPEARFISH HOSPITAL	SD	$78	$78	$14	$75.66	4 insurers
MONUMENT HEALTH RAPID CITY HOSPITAL	SD	$78	$78	$14	$74.88	5 insurers
CAPITAL HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER - HOPEWELL	NJ	$76	$76	—	—	5 insurers
BEEBE MEDICAL CENTER	DE	$89	$75.65	—	—	2 insurers
CHI HEALTH PLAINVIEW HOSPITAL	NE	$90	$75.6	$81.23	$88.2	5 insurers
CHI HEALTH PLAINVIEW HOSPITAL	NE	$90	$75.6	$7.78	$88.2	5 insurers
PERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	NC	$198	$79.2	—	—	3 insurers
PEACEHEALTH ST JOHN MEDICAL CENTER	WA	$115	$74.75	—	—	5 insurers
WELLSPAN EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL	PA	$99.5	$79.6	—	—	5 insurers
WILLIAMSON MEDICAL CENTER	TN	$160	$80	—	—	1 insurers
THREE RIVERS HOSPITAL	WA	$80	$80	—	—	4 insurers
WILLIAMSON MEMORIAL INC	WV	$160	$80	—	—	1 insurers
TEXOMA MEDICAL CENTER	TX	$107	$80.25	—	—	5 insurers
PETERSON REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	TX	$115	$80.5	—	—	5 insurers
LUBBOCK HEART HOSPITAL LP	TX	$73	$73	—	—	5 insurers
NOVANT HEALTH FORSYTH MEDICAL CENTER	NC	$121	$72.6	$7.78	$117	5 insurers
NOVANT HEALTH MEDICAL PARK HOSPITAL	NC	$121	$72.6	$7.78	$117	5 insurers
SOUTHERN TENNESSEE REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM PULASKI	TN	$280	$82.12	—	—	0 insurers
KELL WEST REGIONAL HOSPITAL	TX	$74.25	$72	—	—	5 insurers
CARLE EUREKA HOSPITAL	IL	$83	$83	—	—	5 insurers
CARLE EUREKA HOSPITAL	IL	$83	$83	—	—	2 insurers
ADVENTHEALTH WATERMAN	FL	$151	$83.09	$2.95	$136	5 insurers
GLENDALE MEM HOSPITAL & HLTH CENTER	CA	$119	$83.3	$3.25	$95.2	5 insurers
GARFIELD COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL DISTRICT #1	WA	$88.5	$70.8	—	—	5 insurers
CASCADE MEDICAL CENTER	WA	$88.5	$70.8	—	—	5 insurers
SANFORD WHEATON MEDICAL CENTER	MN	$88	$70.4	—	—	5 insurers
OPELOUSAS GENERAL HEALTH SYSTEM	LA	$168	$84	—	—	5 insurers
MILFORD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	MA	$84	$84	—	—	5 insurers
PEACEHEALTH SOUTHWEST MEDICAL CENTER	WA	$108	$70.2	—	—	5 insurers
FRANKFORT REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	KY	$84.24	$84.24	$4.4	$8.95	5 insurers