Total T3 test cost in Santa Cruz, CA
In Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, 2 hospitals list a cash price for total triiodothyronine (T3) blood test: from $191.00 to $469.77, with a median of $330.39. The lowest listed price is at Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz — $139.39 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $78.00 at 174 hospitals.
Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 84480, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Sep 15, 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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA.
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 T3 TOTAL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $191.00 | $191.00 | — | — |
| Watsonville Community Hospital Watsonville, CA · (831) 724-4741 T3,TOTAL+1 more line at this price File of Sep 15, 2026 · source file | $469.77 | $782.95 | $14.18–$782.95 | 40% |
Outpatient: lowest $191.00, median $330.39, highest $469.77 — a 2.5× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 2 facilities here, median $330.39. 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 T3 test measures the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine. It is used mainly when an overactive thyroid is suspected.
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 84480 ($83.70). 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-T3 TOTAL 70474 | $2.25 | file |