Lab tests CPT 85652 Maryland Outpatient

Sed rate (ESR) cost in Maryland

In Maryland, 12 hospitals publish a cash price for sed rate (ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate): from $6.53 to $16.26, with a median of $13.48. The lowest price is at Greater Baltimore Medical Center (Towson). The highest price is 2.5× the lowest.

The median here, $13.48, is 65% below the US median of $38.00.
That is 5.0× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($2.70).
Maryland ranks 2nd of 49 states by median, cheapest first.
Every hospital here lists a cash price below its full list price.

Why Maryland prices look low: Maryland is the only state where a commission (the HSCRC) sets hospital rates for every payer, so its hospitals publish prices far below the rest of the country. A separate physician fee may still apply.

Maryland law (Health-General §19-214.1) requires hospitals to give free medically necessary care to patients with family income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and to cut the bill by 75% up to 250% and 60% up to 300%. With medical debt above 25% of family income in a year, discounts reach up to 500%. Immigration status does not count. Ask the hospital for its financial assistance application. Other states' laws.

Outpatient cash prices, one line per hospital — its lowest listed price for code 85652. Prices for both sides of the body and inpatient prices are not mixed in. Collected Oct 29, 2026. See them on a map

Lowest$6.53Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Median$13.48half of hospitals charge less

Highest$16.26in Maryland

Lowest saves$6.95vs the median

Hospitals in Maryland, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	File date
Greater Baltimore Medical Center lowest Towson · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD HC Sedrate, Automated	$6.53	$6.66	Jul 1, 2026 source file
UPMC Western Maryland Cumberland · Cumberland, MD-WV AUTOMATED ESR	$7.80	$13.00	Mar 2, 2026 source file
Frederick Health Hospital Frederick · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV SEDIMENTATION RATE AUTOMATED	$10.02	$10.22	Mar 17, 2025 source file
MedStar St. Mary's Hospital Leonardtown · Lexington Park, MD SED RATE, RBC, AUTOMATED	$10.69	$10.91	Apr 1, 2026 source file
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD SED RATE, RBC, AUTOMATED	$10.71	$10.93	Apr 1, 2026 source file
MedStar Montgomery Medical Center Olney · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV SED RATE, RBC, AUTOMATED	$13.23	$13.50	Apr 1, 2026 source file
TidalHealth Peninsula Salisbury · Salisbury, MD HC SED RATE ERYTHROCYTE, AUTOMATED	$13.73	$14.01	Mar 19, 2026 source file
MedStar Southern Hospital Center Clinton · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV SED RATE, RBC, AUTOMATED	$14.38	$14.67	Apr 1, 2026 source file
MedStar Harbor Hospital Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD SED RATE, RBC, AUTOMATED	$14.57	$14.87	Apr 1, 2026 source file
MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD SED RATE, RBC, AUTOMATED	$14.68	$14.98	Apr 1, 2026 source file
Mercy Medical Center Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD HC RBC SED RATE, AUTO	$16.01	$16.34	Jan 1, 2026 source file
MedStar Union Memorial Hospital Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD SED RATE, RBC, AUTOMATED	$16.26	$16.59	Apr 1, 2026 source file

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

File date When the hospital last updated its price file, as the file says itself. A dash means the file gives no date.

By metro area

Each metro page compares every listing, including prices for both sides of the body.

Metro area	Hospitals	Lowest	Median
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	6	$6.53	$14.62
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	3	$10.02	$13.23
Cumberland, MD-WV	1	$7.80	$7.80
Lexington Park, MD	1	$10.69	$10.69
Salisbury, MD	1	$13.73	$13.73

Market A metro area (as the Census Bureau defines it) or, outside metro areas, a town. Each links to every hospital price there.

Hospitals How many hospitals publish a cash price for this code here. Each hospital counts once, at its lowest outpatient cash price.

Lowest The lowest cash price among those hospitals.

Median The middle cash price: half of the hospitals charge less, half charge more. One price per hospital. More

What sed rate (ESR) is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Sed rate (ESR) explained.

Sed rate (ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate) in other states

Median cash price across the state's hospitals.