Rapid strep test cost in Louisville, KY
In Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, 15 hospitals list a cash price for rapid strep A antigen test from a throat swab, read visually: from $33.60 to $164.25, with a median of $86.09. The lowest listed price is at University of Louisville Hospital — $52.49 less than the median here. Across Kentucky, the median is $59.26 at 70 hospitals.
- The median here, $86.09, is 46% above the US median of $59.00.
- That is 5.2× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($16.53).
- Every hospital here lists a cash price below its full list price.
Cash prices at 15 facilities across 7 cities for code 87880, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Nov 9, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Jan 1, 2026 and Sep 30, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Louisville Hospital lowest Louisville, KY · (502) 562-3000 STREP A AG EIA. File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $33.60 | $140.00 | $23.52–$140.00 | 76% |
| Saints Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Louisville, KY STREP A AG EIA. File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $35.28 | $98.00 | $16.46–$98.00 | 64% |
| Norton Brownsboro Hospital Louisville, KY HB STREP SCREEN BETA DIRECT File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $44.40 | $222.00 | $16.53–$184.26 | 80% |
| Norton Children's Hospital Louisville, KY HB STREP SCREEN BETA DIRECT File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $44.40 | $222.00 | $16.53–$188.70 | 80% |
| Norton Hospital Louisville, KY · (502) 629-8000 HB STREP SCREEN BETA DIRECT File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $44.40 | $222.00 | $16.53–$184.26 | 80% |
| Norton Women's and Kosair Children's Hospital Louisville, KY HB STREP SCREEN BETA DIRECT File of Feb 13, 2026 · source file | $44.40 | $222.00 | $16.53–$184.26 | 80% |
| Norton West Louisville Hospital Louisville, KY HB STREP SCREEN BETA DIRECT File of Feb 11, 2026 · source file | $44.40 | $222.00 | $16.53–$184.26 | 80% |
| CHI Saint Joseph Flaget Memorial Hospital Bardstown, KY · (502) 350-5000 HC Lab Rapid Strep a Ag+1 more line at this price File of Sep 30, 2026 · source file | $86.09 | $204.00 | $9.73–$162.59 | 58% |
| UofL Health -Shelbyville Shelbyville, KY · (502) 647-4000 STREP A ASSAY W/OPTIC File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $95.38 | $251.00 | $33.61–$251.00 | 62% |
| St. Vincent Salem Hospital Salem, IN · (812) 883-5881 INFECTAGNT IMMUN DIROBS;STREPO+1 more line at this price File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $124.80 | $208.00 | $15.83–$37.69 | 40% |
| Baptist Health Floyd New Albany, IN · (812) 944-7701 Detection test by immunoassay with direct visual observation for Streptococcus, group A (strep) File of Sep 25, 2026 · source file | $143.36 | $191.14 | $9.73–$286.71 | 25% |
| Baptist Health LaGrange La Grange, KY · (502) 222-5388 Detection test by immunoassay with direct visual observation for Streptococcus, group A (strep) File of Sep 25, 2026 · source file | $143.36 | $191.14 | $9.73–$382.28 | 25% |
| Baptist Health Louisville Louisville, KY · (502) 897-8100 Detection test by immunoassay with direct visual observation for Streptococcus, group A (strep) File of Sep 25, 2026 · source file | $143.36 | $191.14 | $9.73–$382.28 | 25% |
| UofL Health - Jewish Hospital and Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Louisville, KY · (502) 587-4011 STREP A ASSAY W/OPTIC File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $164.25 | $365.00 | $61.32–$365.00 | 55% |
| UofL Health-Louisville – South Hospital Shepherdville, KY STREP A ASSAY W/OPTIC File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file | $164.25 | $365.00 | $61.32–$365.00 | 55% |
Outpatient: lowest $33.60, median $86.09, highest $164.25 — a 4.9× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 12 facilities here, median $44.40. 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 13 of 15 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 rapid strep test is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Rapid strep test explained.