What will your blood work cost?
Tick the tests on your order. We’ll show what Medicare pays, what you owe if it’s covered, and what the same tests cost bought directly — which is the comparison that matters when a lab hands you a form to sign.
Pick your tests
Your three scenarios
Tick a test above to see the numbers.
| Scenario | You pay | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare covers it | $0.00 | No deductible, no coinsurance. Medicare pays the lab $0.00. |
| Medicare denies it | Unknown | The lab bills its own price, which is not the Medicare rate and is usually higher. Nobody can tell you this figure in advance — including us. |
| You buy it yourself | $0.00 | — |
What this tells you
Buy it yourself — what you'd really pay, lab by lab
| Where | Tests | Fee | Total |
|---|
Disclosure: the Ulta Lab Tests link above is a partner link. If you order through it, ClaraCover earns a commission. It costs you nothing extra, and it never changes which lab we show as cheapest.
How to read this
- One draw fee, not one per test. Buying six tests costs six test prices plus a single blood-draw fee. This is the detail that surprises people most, and it is why buying a handful directly is cheaper than it sounds.
- “Medicare pays the lab” is not your bill. When a test is covered, you pay nothing and that amount goes to the laboratory. It is shown because it is a useful measure of what a test is genuinely worth.
- We cannot tell you the denial figure. If Medicare refuses, the lab bills its own list price, which varies by lab and is often several times the Medicare rate. That uncertainty is the point: a known price beats an unknown bill.
- Buying it yourself means Medicare is not involved at all. No claim, no denial, no appeal — and the cost does not count toward any deductible.
When this comparison actually matters
Most of the time it does not. If your doctor ordered blood work to investigate or manage a medical problem, it is covered, you pay nothing, and there is no decision to make.
It matters at one specific moment: when the lab asks you to sign a form before drawing your blood. That form — an Advance Beneficiary Notice — means the lab expects Medicare to refuse. At that point you are choosing between an unknown bill and a known price, and this page tells you what the known price is. What that form is, and your three options →
Before assuming a denial, it is worth checking whether the test should be covered at all. The rule that decides it →
Where these numbers come from
- Medicare amounts: CMS Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, 2026 Q3 — the published national rate for each test.
- Direct-purchase prices: checked on each lab’s own site. Every test page lists all the options we found, not just the cheapest.
- Prices change without notice. We re-check them, but confirm the current price on the lab’s site before you buy.
Some of the labs we list are partners — if you order through a partner link on a test page, ClaraCover earns a commission. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not change which option we show as cheapest. This calculator ranks purely on price.
Checked September 24, 2026. This page compares published prices. It is not medical, billing or insurance advice, and coverage is always determined by Medicare when your claim is processed.
Holding a doctor’s order right now? We’ll look yours up. Free.
Send us the test codes and diagnosis codes from your order (no name, no Medicare number — just the codes and your state). Within 24 hours, you’ll get back a plain-English answer: likely covered or not, what Medicare pays, and what it would cost you either way.
We answer the first 10 requests each day, personally. This is a free service while we build the automated lookup tool.