Pap smear cost in Boston, MA
In Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, 19 hospitals list a cash price for Pap test (liquid-based, automated screening with review): from $41.73 to $411.25, with a median of $106.00. The lowest listed price is at Boston Medical Center South — $64.27 less than the median here. Across Massachusetts, the median is $106.00 at 26 hospitals.
- The median here, $106.00, is 28% above the US median of $83.00.
- That is 4.0× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($26.61).
- 12 of 19 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.
Cash prices at 19 facilities across 16 cities for code 88175, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Oct 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Dec 15, 2025 and Sep 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Medical Center South lowest Brockton, MA · (508) 427-3000 HC Chg Cytopat,Cer/Vag,Thin Layer,Man Res,Inter File of Mar 13, 2026 · source file | $41.73 | $92.73 | $26.61–$394.86 | 55% |
| Boston Medical Center Brighton Boston, MA · (617) 789-3000 HC Chg Cytopat,Cer/Vag,Thin Layer,Man Res,Inter File of Mar 13, 2026 · source file | $53.57 | $119.04 | $26.61–$475.07 | 55% |
| Tufts Medical Center Boston, MA · (617) 636-5000 HC Cytopath C/V Auto Fluid Redo - Lab Cytopat Cer/ File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $65.10 | $93.00 | $24.42–$115.48 | 30% |
| Lowell General Hospital Lowell, MA · (978) 937-6000 HC Cytopath C/V Auto Fluid Redo - Lab Cytopat Cer/ File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $65.10 | $93.00 | $32.55–$108.81 | 30% |
| Melrosewakefield Healthcare Melrose, MA · (781) 979-3000 HC Cytopath C/V Auto Fluid Redo - Lab Cytopat Cer/ File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $65.10 | $93.00 | $32.55–$530.75 | 30% |
| Exeter Hospital Exeter, NH · (603) 778-7311 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $80.00 | $80.00 | — | — |
| Emerson Hospital Concord, MA · (978) 369-1400 CYTPOPATH C/V AUTO FLUID REDO File of May 18, 2026 · source file | $81.75 | $109.00 | $25.14–$112.57 | 25% |
| Southcoast Hospitals Group - Tobey Hospital Campus Wareham, MA · (508) 679-3131 HC Cytopat-Cer/Vag-Thin Layer-Man Res-Inter File of Dec 15, 2025 · source file | $96.50 | $193.00 | $26.61–$411.86 | 50% |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton Milton, MA · (617) 696-4600 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $106.00 | $106.00 | — | — |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Needham Needham, MA · (781) 453-3002 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $106.00 | $106.00 | — | — |
| Anna Jaques Hospital Newburyport, MA · (978) 463-1000 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $111.00 | $111.00 | — | — |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Plymouth Plymouth, MA · (508) 746-2000 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $168.00 | $168.00 | — | — |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA · (617) 667-7000 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $174.00 | $174.00 | — | — |
| Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington Burlington, MA · (781) 744-5100 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $179.00 | $179.00 | — | — |
| Winchester Hospital Winchester, MA · (781) 729-9000 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $183.00 | $183.00 | — | — |
| Mount Auburn Hospital Cambridge, MA · (617) 492-3500 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $184.00 | $184.00 | — | — |
| New England Baptist Hospital Boston, MA · (617) 754-5800 CHG CYTP C/V AUTO THIN LYR PREPJ SCR MNL RESCR PHYS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $229.00 | $229.00 | — | — |
| Parkland Medical Center Derry, NH · (603) 421-2100 PAP AUTO W MAN RESCN TLP+1 more line at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $411.25 | $411.25 | $43.77–$390.69 | — |
| Plaistow Fser Plaistow, NH · (603) 421-2100 Cytopathology, cervical or vaginal (any reporting system), collected in preservative fluid, automated thin layer preparation; with screening by automated system and manual rescreening or review, under +1 more line at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $411.25 | $411.25 | $43.77–$390.69 | — |
Outpatient: lowest $41.73, median $106.00, highest $411.25 — a 9.9× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 16 facilities here, median $106.00. 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 9 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 Pap smear is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Pap smear explained.