How Much Does a Liver Function Test (LFT) Cost? Hepatic Panel Prices by Setting, With and Without Insurance

'Liver function test' usually means the hepatic function panel — seven automated chemistry markers that cost a laboratory very little to run, which is why the price depends almost entirely on who bills it. A hospital outpatient lab lists the panel at $100–$300 and discounts for self-pay on request. A doctor's office or urgent care adds a visit fee ($100–$250 without insurance) to the lab's bill. Mail-in liver kits run about $90–$130 for a finger-prick version. The labs' own storefronts sell it for $79 (Labcorp OnDemand) to $119 (Quest Health), physician order included. Ordered online through TestWell the same panel at the same labs is $19.99 plus one $6 fee — and for $3 more the comprehensive metabolic panel covers the liver markers plus kidney function, glucose and electrolytes, which is what most people checking 'how is my liver' actually want. Insurance covers liver tests ordered for a reason, usually against your deductible; the exception is hepatitis C screening, a no-cost preventive service for adults 18–79 that a liver panel does not include.

Self-pay prices. Where a route requires a visit, the visit is included because you cannot get the test without it.

The question to ask before paying anything is which panel you need. A hepatic function panel and a CMP overlap on six markers; the CMP adds kidney function, glucose, electrolytes and calcium and drops direct bilirubin. If the reason is a general check, medication monitoring or an abnormal result on an earlier CMP, the CMP is usually the more useful order for $3 more. If a clinician asked specifically for a liver panel — for bilirubin fractionation, or to follow a known liver condition — order the hepatic panel.

The hepatic function panel reports seven values. ALT is the most liver-specific enzyme; it leaks from liver cells when they are injured by fat, alcohol, viruses, medications or autoimmune disease, and mild elevations are most often fatty liver. AST is also released by injured liver cells but is found in muscle and heart too, so hard exercise raises it; the AST:ALT ratio carries information about the cause. Alkaline phosphatase comes from the bile ducts and from bone. Total and direct bilirubin track how the liver handles the pigment from recycled red cells; mostly indirect bilirubin with normal enzymes is usually the harmless inherited Gilbert's syndrome. Albumin and total protein reflect the liver's production capacity over weeks. How clinicians read the pattern — rather than any single number — is in Liver function tests explained; what each marker means when high or low is on the ALT, AST, alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin pages.

What it does not include: GGT (useful for sorting out a high alkaline phosphatase, $19.99 separately), hepatitis B and C testing, iron studies, and any imaging. None of those belong in a first liver check unless there is a reason; all of them are common follow-ups to an abnormal one.

Yes when there is a reason on the order — monitoring a medication that can affect the liver (statins, some antifungals, methotrexate, isotretinoin and many others), investigating symptoms, following a known condition, or repeating an abnormal result — billed as diagnostic lab work against your copay or deductible. A liver panel is not on the Affordable Care Act's list of no-cost preventive services, so a 'just checking' panel at a physical is usually applied to the deductible even when the visit itself is free. One liver-related test is free under the preventive rules: hepatitis C screening for every adult 18–79 (USPSTF Grade B), plus hepatitis B screening for people at increased risk. A liver panel does not test for either virus, so if you have never been screened for hepatitis C, ask for that test by name — it costs you nothing with insurance and $30.99 for cash.

Once a charge is on your deductible, the setting decides what you pay: a plan's negotiated rate for a hepatic panel at a hospital lab can be $50–$150; at an independent lab often $10–$30; the cash price online is $19.99. Ask to be sent to Quest or Labcorp rather than the hospital lab, or order it yourself and bring the result. HSA and FSA funds pay in any setting.

Most mildly abnormal liver results are repeated rather than acted on. A single ALT or AST under two to three times the upper limit, in someone without symptoms, is typically repeated after a few weeks — off alcohol, after a pause in hard exercise, and with a review of medications and supplements — and often normalizes. Through a clinic that is a second visit and a second bill; through a lab order it is another $19.99 (or $22.99 for the CMP).

A persistent elevation adds a defined set of follow-ups rather than open-ended testing: hepatitis B and C serologies ($59.99 and $30.99), ferritin and iron studies for iron overload ($24.99 and $25.99), GGT when alkaline phosphatase is the high value, and a fibrosis estimate — the FIB-4 score needs only your age, AST, ALT and platelet count, so a CMP plus a CBC gives everything the FIB-4 calculator needs. Imaging (ultrasound or elastography) and specialist referral happen at a clinic, and that is where a lab result should go once it is clearly abnormal. Alarm features — jaundice, dark urine, abdominal swelling, confusion, or bilirubin well above normal — are a reason to be seen promptly, not to order another panel.

• General check, no clinician involved yet: the CMP ($28.99 all-in through TestWell) — liver markers plus kidneys and glucose, fast 8–12 hours, results in 1–3 business days.
• A clinician asked for a liver panel specifically: the hepatic function panel ($25.99 all-in), no fasting needed.
• Repeating a mildly high enzyme: wait the few weeks you were told to, then order the single panel again rather than a visit; bring both results to the follow-up.
• Insured with a met deductible, seeing a doctor anyway: have the office order it and send you to an independent lab; your copay may be the cheapest route.
• Never screened for hepatitis C: with insurance ask for the free screening test; without it, $30.99 with confirmation.
• Fatty liver or metabolic concern: pair the CMP with a lipid panel and A1c in one draw — the General Wellness or Essential Health panels bundle these for less than ordering separately.

Every test is drawn at Quest, Labcorp or BioReference and carries one $6 lab processing fee per order, charged once however many tests you add. Hepatic Function Panel $19.99 — Quest test code 90842 (Hepatic Function Panel, Plasma), Labcorp 322755 (Hepatic Function Panel (7)), BioReference 3422-3; CPT 80076 — vs $119 at Quest Health and $79 at Labcorp OnDemand. Comprehensive Metabolic Panel $22.99. Follow-ups: GGT $19.99, Hepatitis C with confirmation $30.99, Hepatitis B $59.99, Ferritin $24.99, Iron & TIBC $25.99. A licensed physician authorizes the order, the requisition is emailed, most locations take walk-ins, and results post to your account in 1–3 business days with reference ranges and a plain-language summary. Verified competitor list prices are on the liver panel cost page.