Sed rate (ESR) cost in Louisville, KY
In Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, 16 hospitals list a cash price for sed rate (ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate): from $18.00 to $79.80, with a median of $32.67. The lowest listed price is at Norton Hospital and 4 other hospitals — $14.67 less than the median here. Across Kentucky, the median is $38.40 at 71 hospitals.
- The median here, $32.67, is 14% below the US median of $38.00.
- That is 12.1× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($2.70).
- Every hospital here lists a cash price below its full list price.
Cash prices at 16 facilities across 8 cities for code 85652, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Oct 2, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Jan 1, 2026 and Sep 25, 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 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norton Hospital lowest Louisville, KY · (502) 629-8000 HB SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $18.00 | $90.00 | $2.70–$74.70 | 80% |
| Norton Brownsboro Hospital lowest Louisville, KY HB SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $18.00 | $90.00 | $2.70–$74.70 | 80% |
| Norton Children's Hospital lowest Louisville, KY HB SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $18.00 | $90.00 | $2.70–$76.50 | 80% |
| Norton West Louisville Hospital lowest Louisville, KY HB SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $18.00 | $90.00 | $2.70–$74.70 | 80% |
| Norton Women's and Kosair Children's Hospital lowest Louisville, KY HB SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Feb 13, 2026 · source file | $18.00 | $90.00 | $2.70–$74.70 | 80% |
| Norton Clark Hospital Jeffersonville, IN · (812) 283-2147 HB SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Jun 3, 2026 · source file | $22.40 | $160.00 | $2.30–$140.00 | 86% |
| University of Louisville Hospital Louisville, KY · (502) 562-3000 RBC SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $26.16 | $109.00 | $18.31–$109.00 | 76% |
| Baptist Health LaGrange La Grange, KY · (502) 222-5388 Red blood cell sedimentation rate, to detect inflammation, automated File of Sep 25, 2026 · source file | $32.67 | $43.56 | $2.30–$87.12 | 25% |
| Baptist Health Floyd New Albany, IN · (812) 944-7701 Red blood cell sedimentation rate, to detect inflammation, automated File of Sep 25, 2026 · source file | $32.67 | $43.56 | $2.30–$65.34 | 25% |
| Baptist Health Louisville Louisville, KY · (502) 897-8100 Red blood cell sedimentation rate, to detect inflammation, automated File of Sep 25, 2026 · source file | $32.67 | $43.56 | $1.62–$87.12 | 25% |
| Saints Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Louisville, KY RBC SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $37.08 | $103.00 | $17.30–$103.00 | 64% |
| UofL Health -Shelbyville Shelbyville, KY · (502) 647-4000 RBC SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $41.42 | $109.00 | $14.60–$109.00 | 62% |
| UofL Health - Jewish Hospital and Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Louisville, KY · (502) 587-4011 RBC SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $44.10 | $98.00 | $16.46–$98.00 | 55% |
| UofL Health-Louisville – South Hospital Shepherdville, KY RBC SED RATE AUTOMATED File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $46.35 | $103.00 | $17.30–$103.00 | 55% |
| St. Vincent Salem Hospital Salem, IN · (812) 883-5881 SEDIMENT RATE ERYTHROCYTE;AUTM+1 more line at this price File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $70.20 | $117.00 | $2.00–$6.16 | 40% |
| Harrison County Hospital Corydon, IN · (812) 738-4251 Red blood cell sedimentation rate, to detect inflammation, automated File of Jul 16, 2026 · source file | $79.80 | $133.00 | $1.35–$119.70 | 40% |
Outpatient: lowest $18.00, median $32.67, highest $79.80 — a 4.4× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 12 facilities here, median $24.28. 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 15 of 16 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 sed rate (ESR) is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Sed rate (ESR) explained.
2 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 85652 ($36.80). 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CHI Saint Joseph Flaget Memorial Hospital Bardstown, KYHC Lab Sedimentation Rate (Sed) | $3.38 | file |
| CHI Saint Joseph Flaget Memorial Hospital Bardstown, KYHC Lab Sedimentation Rate (Sed) | $3.38 | file |