Blood culture cost in Chico, CA
In Chico, CA, 1 hospital lists a cash price for blood culture for bacteria: from $178.00 to $178.00, with a median of $178.00. Across California, the median is $237.07 at 152 hospitals.
Cash prices at 1 facility for code 87040, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oroville Hospital Oroville, CA · (530) 533-8500 Culture, Blood | $178.00 | $355.00 | $10.00–$391.00 | 50% | — source file |
Outpatient: lowest $178.00, median $178.00, highest $178.00.
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 blood culture checks for bacteria or yeast in the blood. It is ordered for fever with signs of a serious infection, such as sepsis.
What the price covers
The price is usually for one culture set. 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 87040 ($125.00). 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.
| Orchard Hospital Gridley, CABacterial blood culture | $6.05 | file |