How much does a lipid (cholesterol) panel cost in the US?

Across 1,276 hospitals that publish federally required price files, the median negotiated rate is $24.74, and the middle half of hospitals fall between $13.93 and $70. Self-pay cash prices have a median of $87 across the 1,019 hospitals that list one. What you pay out of pocket depends on your deductible, coinsurance and network.

Why do Cholesterol Test (Lipid Panel) prices vary so much?

Each hospital negotiates separately with each insurer. In these files the priciest tenth of hospitals negotiated more than 9.4 times what the cheapest tenth did, and state medians run from $10.17 in Nevada to $120 in South Dakota.

Is the cash price cheaper than using insurance?

Sometimes. At 232 of the 1,019 hospitals that list a cash price (23%), it is lower than that hospital's own median negotiated rate. If you have a high deductible, ask the hospital for its self-pay price before you book.

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Cholesterol Test (Lipid Panel) Cost in the US (2026): What 1,276 Hospitals NegotiatedNPI VERIFIED

Across 1,276 US hospitals that publish federally required price files, the median negotiated rate for a lipid (cholesterol) panel is $24.74. The middle half of hospitals negotiated between $13.93 and $70; the priciest tenth negotiated more than $126, 9.4× the cheapest tenth (under $13.38). Hospitals that list a self-pay price ask a median of $87 (1,019 hospitals).

Code CPT 80061 · Source: hospital machine-readable files (45 CFR §180), file dates 2022-11-12 to 2026-09-28 (median 2026-04-01) · Medicare baseline: CMS OPPS Addendum B · Data extracted 2026-10-06 · Page updated 2026-10-07

National median

$24.74

all plan types · 1,276 hospitals

Middle half

$13.93–$70

25th–75th percentile of hospitals

Median cash price

$87

self-pay · 1,019 hospitals list one

Medicare baseline

—

no OPPS rate for this service

1,276 hospitals, one bar per price band

median $24.74

$0$100$200

Each bar counts hospitals whose median rate falls in that price band; the last, dashed bar holds the 25 at $200 or more. The cheapest tenth negotiated under $13.38, the priciest tenth over $126 — 9.4× apart for the same procedure.

These are contract reference rates, not your bill. A median across hospitals is not a quote for your plan or network. Your out-of-pocket cost depends on your deductible, coinsurance and network status.

Medicare pays lab tests from its Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, not the outpatient (OPPS) table we use as a baseline, so no Medicare multiple is shown.

Coverage: 1,276 of the 5,419 hospitals in the CMS roster have an identity-verified price file with this procedure in our data. It is not a random sample, and a hospital missing here has not been judged non-compliant — we may simply not have its file yet. 101 of these 1,276 hospital files were more than 12 months old at extraction — hospitals must update yearly; we keep the figures and say so rather than hide them.

By insurance type

Insurance type	Hospitals	Median	Middle half	× Medicare
Commercial (plan type not stated)	780	$63	$26.48 – $122	—
PPO	813	$64	$27.37 – $125	—
HMO	536	$52	$24.39 – $103	—
EPO	127	$66	$27.02 – $114	—
POS	76	$77	$25.34 – $149	—
ACA Marketplace	474	$24.50	$19.55 – $52	—
Medicare Advantage	734	$14.06	$13.39 – $50	—
Medicare (as listed)	718	$13.73	$13.39 – $16.64	—
Medicaid	822	$18.12	$13.39 – $48.64	—
Federal employees (FEP)	23	$71	$52 – $81	—
Workers' comp	138	$35.59	$18.75 – $75	—

Plan types are grouped from each hospital's plan names. Each figure is a median of hospital-level medians; types with fewer than 20 hospitals are left out.

By state

State	Hospitals	Median	Middle half	× Medicare	Median cash
Alabama	17	$13.39	$13.12 – $13.51	—	$58
Arizona	12	$14.06	$13.79 – $28.27	—	$40.86
Arkansas	15	$18.16	$13.26 – $36.03	—	$79
California	45	$18.75	$13.39 – $34.20	—	$47.92
Colorado	9	$44.10	$22.92 – $83	—	$55
Florida	47	$14.19	$14.06 – $15.29	—	$96
Georgia	34	$24.17	$16.74 – $37.91	—	$75
Hawaii	11	$33.73	$13.43 – $36.11	—	$93
Idaho	14	$49.12	$42.68 – $57	—	$64
Illinois	50	$57	$15.17 – $108	—	$141
Indiana	27	$20.08	$13.41 – $38.60	—	$96
Iowa	43	$60	$46.70 – $81	—	$89
Kansas	52	$57	$26.26 – $93	—	$76
Kentucky	52	$14.06	$13.39 – $60	—	$128
Louisiana	28	$16.85	$13.39 – $38.78	—	$50
Maine	10	$92	$52 – $121	—	$76
Maryland	9	$55	$51 – $57	—	$55
Massachusetts	9	$26.35	$20.08 – $56	—	$166
Michigan	33	$14.06	$13.06 – $20.08	—	$51
Minnesota	30	$57	$23.32 – $96	—	$102
Mississippi	23	$13.38	$12.05 – $13.86	—	$63
Missouri	30	$28.98	$13.39 – $44.57	—	$91
Montana	22	$102	$66 – $143	—	$121
Nebraska	33	$70	$14.88 – $118	—	$117
Nevada	9	$10.17	$10.17 – $41.54	—	$770
New Hampshire	6	$71	$54 – $87	—	$352
New Jersey	24	$13.39	$7.36 – $13.94	—	$15.40
New Mexico	18	$117	$17.18 – $161	—	$138
New York	39	$16.53	$13.39 – $26.16	—	$83
North Carolina	23	$24.45	$13.86 – $54	—	$71
North Dakota	13	$92	$58 – $99	—	$94
Ohio	55	$17.85	$14.46 – $29.30	—	$74
Oklahoma	37	$17.18	$13.12 – $46.98	—	$70
Oregon	24	$25.04	$19.89 – $52	—	$104
Pennsylvania	60	$20.43	$15.46 – $44.50	—	$88
Puerto Rico	12	$18.00	$17.63 – $18.70	—	$23.00
Rhode Island	5	$19.37	$16.84 – $24.17	—	$80
South Carolina	27	$13.88	$13.39 – $14.33	—	$87
South Dakota	12	$120	$84 – $130	—	$129
Tennessee	23	$14.06	$13.62 – $16.25	—	$41.85
Texas	110	$33.32	$18.28 – $85	—	$94
Utah	21	$70	$68 – $92	—	$71
Vermont	9	$90	$43.50 – $102	—	$98
Virginia	19	$18.35	$13.91 – $70	—	$76
Washington	21	$69	$25.04 – $114	—	$118
West Virginia	8	$61	$39.05 – $113	—	$83
Wisconsin	29	$43.25	$16.74 – $71	—	$102
Wyoming	10	$47.73	$45.80 – $92	—	$56

middle half of hospitalsstate median · a dotted end means the range runs past $200

States with at least 5 hospitals in our data (48 states). 3 smaller states are counted in the national figures but not listed — a median of two or three hospitals says more about those hospitals than about the state.

Get the data

Hospital-level and insurer-level rates for this procedure are in the full dataset. A free three-procedure sample (brain MRI, head CT, diagnostic colonoscopy) is open under CC BY 4.0: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23199844 · Kaggle.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a lipid (cholesterol) panel cost in the US?: Across 1,276 hospitals that publish federally required price files, the median negotiated rate is $24.74, and the middle half of hospitals fall between $13.93 and $70. Self-pay cash prices have a median of $87 across the 1,019 hospitals that list one. What you pay out of pocket depends on your deductible, coinsurance and network.
Why do Cholesterol Test (Lipid Panel) prices vary so much?: Each hospital negotiates separately with each insurer. In these files the priciest tenth of hospitals negotiated more than 9.4 times what the cheapest tenth did, and state medians run from $10.17 in Nevada to $120 in South Dakota.
Is the cash price cheaper than using insurance?: Sometimes. At 232 of the 1,019 hospitals that list a cash price (23%), it is lower than that hospital's own median negotiated rate. If you have a high deductible, ask the hospital for its self-pay price before you book.

Other lab tests prices

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median $14.20 · 1,267 hospitals

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median $21.12 · 1,276 hospitals

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median $29.93 · 1,276 hospitals

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median $4.58 · 1,227 hospitals

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