Urine dipstick, automated cost in Brownsville, TX
In Brownsville-Harlingen, TX, 1 hospital lists a cash price for urinalysis without microscope exam, automated: from $190.32 to $190.32, with a median of $190.32. Across Texas, the median is $53.90 at 221 hospitals.
Cash prices at 1 facility for code 81003, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Sep 1, 2026 and Sep 1, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Brownsville-Harlingen, TX.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Regional Medical Center lowest Brownsville, TX · (956) 350-7000 PROTEIN UR QUAL AUTO | $190.32 | $190.32 | $13.32–$161.77 | — | Sep 1, 2026 source file |
| Valley Regional Medical Center Brownsville, TX · (956) 350-7000 SPEC GRAV UR AUTO | $212.99 | $212.99 | $14.91–$181.04 | — | Sep 1, 2026 source file |
| Valley Regional Medical Center Brownsville, TX · (956) 350-7000 PH UR AUTO | $234.13 | $234.13 | $16.39–$199.01 | — | Sep 1, 2026 source file |
| Valley Regional Medical Center Brownsville, TX · (956) 350-7000 KETONES UR AUTO | $379.13 | $379.13 | $26.54–$322.26 | — | Sep 1, 2026 source file |
| Valley Regional Medical Center Brownsville, TX · (956) 350-7000 UA W O MICRO AUTO | $549.83 | $549.83 | $38.49–$467.36 | — | Sep 1, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $190.32, median $190.32, highest $190.32.
Cash or insurance?
At the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is not below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
An automated urinalysis without microscopy tests a urine sample on a machine that reads the chemical dipstick results. It checks for protein, sugar, blood, ketones and signs of infection, without a microscope exam of cells.
What the price covers
The price covers the automated chemical test. A microscope exam or urine culture is billed separately if done.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 81003 ($27.25). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Harlingen Medical Center Harlingen, TXURINALYSIS, MACROSCOPIC AUTO | $2.00 | file |