Lab tests CPT 87070 Outpatient

Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Mt Shasta, CA

In Mt Shasta, CA, 1 hospital lists a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $16.01 to $16.01, with a median of $16.01. Across California, the median is $133.00 at 193 hospitals.

Cash prices at 1 facility 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 Feb 28, 2026 and Feb 28, 2026.

Lowest$16.01Mercy Medical Center of Mt Shasta

Median$16.01half of hospitals charge less

Highest$16.01in this market

Difference1.0×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 Mt Shasta, CA.

median

Lowest $16.01Highest $41.24

Hospitals, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	Insurers pay	Off list
Mercy Medical Center of Mt Shasta lowest Mt Shasta, CA · (530) 926-6111 RL-A-MC HPYL 2006686A File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file	$16.01	$20.57	$7.51–$20.57	22%
Mercy Medical Center of Mt Shasta Mt Shasta, CA · (530) 926-6111 MM-CULT CSF File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file	$41.24	$53.00	$7.51–$51.94	22%

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.

Outpatient: lowest $16.01, median $16.01, highest $16.01.

As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 1 facility here, median $16.01. 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.

1 row held back from this comparison

It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 87070 ($91.03). 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
Mercy Medical Center of Mt Shasta Mt Shasta, CARL-A-CULTURE MISC SRC	$5.85	file

File Link to the hospital's own price file.