Lab tests CPT 85018 Outpatient

Hemoglobin test cost in McAllen, TX

In McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX, 2 hospitals list a cash price for hemoglobin blood test: from $11.27 to $305.52, with a median of $158.40. The lowest listed price is at Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley — $147.13 less than the median here. Across Texas, the median is $47.00 at 287 hospitals.

Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 85018, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Oct 6, 2025 and Sep 1, 2026.

Lowest$11.27Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley

Median$158.40half of hospitals charge less

Highest$305.52in this market

Difference27.1×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 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX.

median

Lowest $11.27Highest $305.52

Hospitals, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	Insurers pay	Off list
Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley lowest Edinburg, TX · (361) 694-5041 Ciba Hemoglobin File of Oct 6, 2025 · source file	$11.27	$56.35	$1.99–$165.82	80%
Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · (361) 694-5041 Hemoglobin File of Oct 6, 2025 · source file	$14.49	$72.45	$1.99–$165.82	80%
Rio Grande Regional Hospital San Juan, TX · (956) 632-6000 Blood count; hemoglobin (Hgb) +1 more line at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file	$305.52	$305.52	$2.03–$259.69	—

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 $11.27, median $158.40, highest $305.52 — a 27.1× difference within the same market.

Cash or insurance?

At 1 of 2 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 hemoglobin test measures the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. It is used to check for anemia or bleeding and to follow treatment.

What the price covers

The price usually covers running the test. The blood draw (36415) is often billed as a separate line.

2 rows held back from this comparison

They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 85018 ($24.60). 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
Knapp Medical Center Weslaco, TXHc Hemoglobin	$2.00	file
Mission Regional Medical Center Mission, TXHEMOGLOBIN	$2.00	file

File Link to the hospital's own price file.