Pap smear (lab reading) cost in Jackson, MS — inpatient
In Jackson, MS, 3 hospitals list a cash price for Pap test lab reading: liquid-based cervical sample, manual screening as an inpatient: from $11.55 to $51.57, with a median of $22.55. The lowest listed price is at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center — $11.00 less than the median here. Across Mississippi, the median is $24.48 at 14 hospitals.
Cash prices at 3 facilities across 3 cities for code 88142, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 17, 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 Jackson, MS.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi Baptist Medical Center lowest Jackson, MS · (601) 968-1000 88142-CP THIN PREP CERVICAL/VAGINAL | $11.55 | $55.00 | $20.90–$44.00 | 79% | Feb 25, 2026 source file |
| Baptist Medical Center-Yazoo Yazoo City, MS · (662) 746-2261 88142-CP THIN PREP CERVICAL/VAGINAL | $22.55 | $55.00 | $20.90–$49.50 | 59% | Feb 17, 2026 source file |
| River Oaks Hospital Flowood, MS · (601) 932-1030 88142 AP Bill Gyn Cytology Liquid Prep | $51.57 | $191.00 | $19.29–$171.90 | 73% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| River Oaks Hospital Flowood, MS · (601) 932-1030 Pap Lb (Liquid-based) Sendout to LabCorp | $158.76 | $588.00 | $59.39–$529.20 | 73% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
Inpatient: lowest $11.55, median $22.55, highest $51.57 — a 4.5× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $22.55 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At 3 of 3 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at 1 it is 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 it is
This code covers the lab work on a Pap test collected in liquid, where the sample is prepared as a thin layer and screened for abnormal cervical cells. It is not the exam where the sample is collected.
What the price covers
The price usually covers preparing and screening the sample. The visit and pelvic exam, an HPV test on the same sample (87624) and a pathologist's review of abnormal cells are billed separately.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 88142 ($75.65). 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.
| River Oaks Hospital Flowood, MSThinPrep Pap (CQ) | $7.46 | file |