CMS Price Transparency Data

Culture, blood

Facility: Boston Children's Hospital

Billing Code: 87040 (CPT)

The BaseRate · fair price high confidence

A fair price for this

$30

about 3.0× the $10 Medicare rate · typically $14–$42

modeled estimate · not a bill or quote

Medicare pays $10 Fair price $30 Cash price $175 Hospital's list price $175

How we calculate the fair BaseRate →

What each insurance company pays

Which insurers have negotiated a price with this hospital for this procedure — and which haven’t.

5 of 6 major insurers have a published price at this hospital

✓ UnitedHealthcare✓ Blue Cross Blue Shield✓ Aetna✓ Cigna✓ Humana Kaiser Permanente

Crossed out = this hospital hasn’t published a negotiated price for that insurer for this procedure. It doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t accepted — ask your insurer.

Insurance company	Price range	vs. Medicare
UnitedHealthcaremajor	$105 - $149	1017%
Blue Cross Blue Shieldmajor	$36 - $116	349%
Aetnamajor	$105 - $147	1017%
Cignamajor	$149 - $158	1444%
Humanamajor	$158	1531%
Ambetter (Centene)	$111	1076%
CDPHP	$86 - $149	833%
Harvard Pilgrim	$89 - $118	862%
Tufts Health Plan	$108	1047%
UniCare	$41	397%
+ 8 smaller / regional plans	$106 - $158

Excludes 2 rental-network / third-party entries (e.g. Multiplan, PHCS) — these are pricing networks, not insurers.

Self-Pay How to get the cash price

Tell the billing desk you want to be billed as self-pay — not through insurance — before your visit.
Ask for the cash / prompt-pay discount in writing, with the exact price (about 175), before you agree to anything.
Get it in writing that they won’t also bill your insurance, so the cash price is what you owe.
Check the CPT code on your bill matches exactly: 87040.

Insurance Before you use insurance

Call your insurance company to confirm Boston Children's Hospital is in-network.
Ask your insurer whether prior approval is required for CPT code 87040.
Confirm the doctor or provider is in-network too — not just the hospital building.
Check your Explanation of Benefits against the hospital’s final itemized bill.

Estimate your out-of-pocket cost

A rough estimate of what you’d pay with insurance (deductible + coinsurance) versus paying the cash price yourself.

How you’d pay

Deductible left to meet ($)

Your coinsurance (%)

Enter your details and press estimate to compare.

Other Procedures at Boston Children's Hospital

Compare: Culture, blood at other MA hospitals

Insurance negotiated median for the same procedure, sorted lowest first.