Pap smear (lab reading) cost in Riverside, CA
In Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, 14 hospitals list a cash price for Pap test lab reading: liquid-based cervical sample, manual screening: from $12.00 to $539.75, with a median of $67.32. The lowest listed price is at Mountains Community Hospital — $55.32 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $91.00 at 122 hospitals.
- The median here, $67.32, is 5% below the US median of $70.94.
- That is 3.3× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($20.26).
- Riverside, CA ranks 2nd of 4 metro areas in California by median, cheapest first.
- 3 of 14 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.
Cash prices at 14 facilities across 10 cities for code 88142, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Nov 1, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Jan 14, 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountains Community Hospital lowest Lake Arrowhead, CA · (909) 336-3651 SUREPATH AND HPV CPT2+2 more lines at this price File of Jan 14, 2026 · source file | $12.00 | $30.00 | $13.50–$25.50 | 60% |
| Mountains Community Hospital Lake Arrowhead, CA · (909) 336-3651 SUREPATH PAP File of Jan 14, 2026 · source file | $26.46 | $66.15 | $29.77–$56.23 | 60% |
| Loma Linda University Medical Center Loma Linda, CA · (909) 558-4000 HC PAP S EAR-THIN PREP PG File of Sep 2, 2026 · source file | $26.55 | $59.00 | $11.80–$148.67 | 55% |
| Loma Linda University Medical Center - Murrieta Murrieta, CA · (951) 290-4000 HC PAP S EAR-THIN PREP PG File of Sep 2, 2026 · source file | $26.55 | $59.00 | $10.68–$163.07 | 55% |
| Loma Linda University Childrens Hospital Loma Linda, CA · (909) 558-8000 HC PAP S EAR-THIN PREP PG File of Sep 2, 2026 · source file | $26.55 | $59.00 | $11.80–$168.45 | 55% |
| Riverside University Medical Center Moreno Valley, CA · (951) 486-4000 HC Qu Cytyc Pap+1 more line at this price File of Mar 30, 2026 · source file | $27.10 | $27.10 | $3.66–$27.10 | — |
| San Bernardino County Colton, CA · (909) 580-1000 HC CYTOPATH C/V THIN LAYER - LAB CYTOPATH CERV/VAG THIN LAYER File of Feb 25, 2026 · source file | $40.00 | $40.00 | $18.00–$29.00 | — |
| Mountains Community Hospital Lake Arrowhead, CA · (909) 336-3651 THIN PREP W/HR HPV,GC-CHL File of Jan 14, 2026 · source file | $56.00 | $140.00 | $63.00–$119.00 | 60% |
| St Bernardine Medical Center San Bernardino, CA · (909) 883-8711 CYTOPATH CER/VAG AUTO MAN File of Sep 30, 2026 · source file | $67.15 | $204.00 | $17.63–$204.00 | 67% |
| Barstow Community Hospital Barstow, CA · (760) 256-1761 Pap test, manual screening File of Sep 17, 2026 · source file | $67.49 | $112.49 | $22.79–$89.99 | 40% |
| Loma Linda University Childrens Hospital Loma Linda, CA · (909) 558-8000 HC CYTOPATH THINPREP PAP File of Sep 2, 2026 · source file | $75.60 | $168.00 | $16.41–$168.45 | 55% |
| Loma Linda University Medical Center Loma Linda, CA · (909) 558-4000 HC CYTOPATH THINPREP PAP File of Sep 2, 2026 · source file | $75.60 | $168.00 | $16.41–$151.20 | 55% |
| Loma Linda University Medical Center - Murrieta Murrieta, CA · (951) 290-4000 HC CYTOPATH THINPREP PAP File of Sep 2, 2026 · source file | $75.60 | $168.00 | $20.26–$163.07 | 55% |
| Community Hospital of San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA · (909) 887-6333 CYTOPATH CER/VAG AUTO MAN File of Sep 30, 2026 · source file | $80.88 | $208.00 | $20.26–$208.00 | 61% |
| Kaiser Ontario Medical Center Campus Ontario, CA · (909) 427-5000 CYTP CERV/VAG AUTO THIN LAYER PREP MNL SCREEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $91.00 | $175.00 | $17.00–$50.00 | 48% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Riverside Riverside, CA · (951) 353-2000 CYTP CERV/VAG AUTO THIN LAYER PREP MNL SCREEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $91.00 | $175.00 | $17.00–$50.00 | 48% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Moreno Valley Moreno Valley, CA · (951) 251-6530 CYTP CERV/VAG AUTO THIN LAYER PREP MNL SCREEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $91.00 | $175.00 | $17.00–$50.00 | 48% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Fontana Fontana, CA · (909) 427-5000 CYTP CERV/VAG AUTO THIN LAYER PREP MNL SCREEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $91.00 | $175.00 | $17.00–$50.00 | 48% |
| San Bernardino County Colton, CA · (909) 580-1000 HC CYTOPATH C/V THIN LAYER - LAB CYTOPHATH CERV/VAG THIN LAYER File of Feb 25, 2026 · source file | $360.00 | $360.00 | $18.00–$261.00 | — |
| Riverside Community Hospital Riverside, CA · (951) 788-3000 Cytopathology, cervical or vaginal (any reporting system), collected in preservative fluid, automated thin layer preparation; manual screening under physician supervision +1 more line at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $539.75 | $539.75 | $20.26–$485.77 | — |
Outpatient: lowest $12.00, median $67.32, highest $539.75 — a 45.0× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 11 facilities here, median $67.15. 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 7 of 14 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 Pap smear (lab reading) is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Pap smear (lab reading) explained.