Folate test cost in San Francisco, CA
In San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA, 12 hospitals list a cash price for Folate (folic acid) blood test: from $32.13 to $226.80, with a median of $109.20. The lowest listed price is at Hayward Sisters Hospital — $77.07 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $90.00 at 100 hospitals.
Cash prices at 12 facilities across 11 cities for code 82746, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 23, 2026 and Jul 22, 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayward Sisters Hospital lowest Hayward, CA FOLICACIDSERUM | $32.13 | $107.10 | $13.68–$91.03 | 70% | Feb 23, 2026 source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Leandro San Leandro, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Rafael San Rafael, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Antioch Antioch, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Francisco San Francisco, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Oakland/Richmond Oakland, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - South San Francisco South San Francisco, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Walnut Creek Walnut Creek, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Fremont Fremont, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Redwood City Redwood City, CA ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $109.20 | $195.00 | $14.00–$45.00 | 44% | — source file |
| Chinese Hospital Association San Francisco, CA Folic acid level, serum | $159.00 | $159.00 | $14.70–$286.20 | — | Jul 22, 2026 source file |
| Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley Pleasanton, CA HC Folate-Serum | $226.80 | $567.00 | — | 60% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $32.13, median $109.20, highest $226.80 — a 7.1× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 11 facilities here, median $109.20. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At 2 of 11 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. 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
A folate test measures folic acid in the blood. It is ordered for anemia with large red blood cells, usually together with a vitamin B12 test (82607).
What the price covers
The price usually covers running the test. The blood draw (36415) is often billed as a separate line.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 82746 ($75.33). 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.
| Hayward Sisters Hospital Hayward, CALC ASSAY OF FOLIC ACID SERUM | $2.60 | file |