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Darkfield Microscope Exam for Spirochetes

Massachusetts rates for HCPCS 87166

Examination of fluid or scrapings under a microscope arranged so that light strikes the sample from the side, making extremely thin corkscrew-shaped bacteria stand out bright against a dark background. It is used mainly to look for the organism that causes syphilis in fluid taken from a sore, and it can give an answer straight away.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Darkfield Microscope Exam for Spirochetes cost?

$11.22

Typical negotiated rate. In Massachusetts, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $11.22 for this service. The price depends on where it is billed: about $10.72 from a physician practice, and about $16.22 from a hospital or other facility.

These are rates insurers have negotiated with providers, not the amount a patient is billed. What you owe depends on your plan's deductible and coinsurance. Based on rates published by 9 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

Prices by location type

Billed byTypicalRange
Physician practiceA doctor's office, clinic or independent provider$10.72$5.62 to $16.98
FacilityA hospital or hospital-owned outpatient department$16.22$10.23 to $25.70

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $16 · 10th to 90th $9 to $40Professionalmedian $11 · 10th to 90th $5 to $29
$10$100$1Kfacility $16professional $11

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$5.50
Median
$15.49
Typical High
$25.70
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$5.50
Median
$5.50
Typical High
$12.88
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$8.51
Median
$12.02
Typical High
$33.11
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$4.47
Median
$11.22
Typical High
$28.84
BCBS Massachusetts
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$7.59
Median
$28.18
Typical High
$39.81
BCBS Massachusetts
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$7.41
Median
$7.41
Typical High
$10.72
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$7.41
Median
$15.49
Typical High
$29.51
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$6.92
Median
$13.49
Typical High
$44.67
Fallon Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$8.32
Median
$19.05
Typical High
$4,897.79
Fallon Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$16.22
Median
$16.22
Typical High
$19.05
Harvard Pilgrim
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$4.47
Median
$11.22
Typical High
$43.65
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$8.51
Median
$12.02
Typical High
$33.11
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$4.47
Median
$11.22
Typical High
$28.84
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$11.22
Median
$11.22
Typical High
$44.67
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$3.16
Median
$6.76
Typical High
$23.99
Well Sense
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$6.03
Median
$12.59
Typical High
$19.50
Well Sense
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$6.03
Median
$6.03
Typical High
$7.24
3 more rates with less common billing modifiers

A modifier changes what was billed, for example a reduced or repeated service. Each of these modifiers carries under 10% of the published rates for this code. Modifier combinations, and modifiers with fewer than 30 rates for a carrier, are not listed.

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$2.75
Median
$2.75
Typical High
$6.46
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$1.10
Median
$1.10
Typical High
$2.57
Fallon Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
QW · Waived lab test
Typical Low
$11.22
Median
$14.79
Typical High
$17.38

Where Massachusetts sits

The same service costs 3.5 times more in Alaska than in Kentucky. Every bar is a state, most expensive first. Touch or drag across it to read any state, then open that state for its carriers and full range.

Massachusetts· 23rd of 51

$11.22

AK $25.70KY $7.24

Median negotiated rate in each state, from every insurer that publishes one. States where no insurer publishes a rate for this service are not shown.