Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Houghton, MI
In Houghton, MI, 2 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $77.35 to $155.35, with a median of $116.35. The lowest listed price is at Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital — $39.00 less than the median here. Across Michigan, the median is $53.00 at 87 hospitals.
Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 87070, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Apr 1, 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 Houghton, MI.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital lowest Laurium, MI · (906) 337-6500 Culture, Aerobic - Routine . Beaker1+1 more line at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $77.35 | $119.00 | — | 35% |
| UP Health System - Portage Hancock, MI · (906) 483-1000 Culture, bacterial; any other source except urine, blood or stool, aerobic, with isolation and presumptive identification of isolates source file | $155.35 | $258.92 | $8.62–$258.92 | 40% |
Outpatient: lowest $77.35, median $116.35, highest $155.35 — a 2.0× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 1 facility here, median $77.35. 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 bacterial culture grows bacteria from a sample such as a wound, throat swab, eye or fluid to find which germ causes an infection. It takes one to three days.
What the price covers
The price usually covers running the test; collecting the sample may be billed separately.