Lab tests CPT 84436 Outpatient

Total T4 test cost in Santa Cruz, CA

In Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, 2 hospitals list a cash price for total thyroxine (T4) blood test: from $123.00 to $426.90, with a median of $274.95. The lowest listed price is at Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz — $151.95 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $39.20 at 181 hospitals.

Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 84436, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Oct 2, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Sep 28, 2026.

Lowest$123.00Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz

Median$274.95half of hospitals charge less

Highest$426.90in this market

Difference3.5×highest vs lowest

Where each hospital's price falls

Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA.

median

Lowest $123.00Highest $426.90

Hospitals, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	Insurers pay	Off list
Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz lowest Santa Cruz, CA · (831) 477-2200 HCHG CORE THYROXINE (T4) File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file	$123.00	$123.00	—	—
Watsonville Community Hospital Watsonville, CA · (831) 724-4741 THYROXINE T4,TOTAL+1 more line at this price File of Sep 28, 2026 · source file	$426.90	$711.50	$6.87–$711.50	40%

Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.

Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking. More

List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth. More

Insurers pay The lowest and highest rates this hospital has agreed with insurance plans for the same item, from its price file. If the cash price is below what your plan pays and you have not met your deductible, paying cash can cost you less. More

Off list How much lower the cash price is than the list price.

No cash discount This line's cash price equals the hospital's full list price. Many hospitals still reduce bills for uninsured patients: ask the billing office for its self-pay discount in writing. More

Outpatient: lowest $123.00, median $274.95, highest $426.90 — a 3.5× difference within the same market.

As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 2 facilities here, median $274.95. 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 the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is 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

A total T4 test measures all the thyroxine hormone in the blood, both bound and free. Most doctors now order free T4 (84439) instead, which is less affected by pregnancy and medicines.

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 84436 ($51.00). 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.

Hospital	Cash price	File
Dominican Hospital Santa Cruz, CARL-A-T4 TOTAL 3005978	$3.19	file

File Link to the hospital's own price file.