CPT code 80305: Drug screen, direct optical read2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A presumptive drug test read by direct optical observation, reported once per date of service across the drug classes and devices used.
Medicare pays $12.60 for 80305 under the 2026 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: one national amount, the same in every state and setting.
Medicare lab fee · CLFS 2026 Q4
National CLFS amount
$12.60
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2020
- Unchanged
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $12.60
Medicare pays the lesser of the lab’s charge and this amount. Patients usually owe no Part B deductible or coinsurance for covered clinical lab tests.
On this page 8 sections
What 80305 covers
A presumptive drug test under this code uses a test device that yields a result read directly by optical observation. Examples of device formats include dipsticks, cups, cards, and cartridges. It may cover any number of drug classes and devices or procedures. This distinguishes it from presumptive tests read by an instrument or performed with a chemical analyzer, which are reported under 80306 and 80307, respectively. Sample validation is included when performed.
Report one service per date of service, regardless of the number of drug classes or devices used. For the CLIA-waived version, modifier QW identifies the test for performance by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS. The 2026 national amount is $12.60, unchanged since 2020; one amount applies across localities, with no office or facility difference.
This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule data. Amounts on this page come directly from CMS files.
How Medicare pays 80305
Clinical lab tests aren’t priced like physician services. They’re paid from their own fee schedule, with its own rules. See the whole lab fee schedule.
One national amount
CMS sets a single Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule amount for 80305. There’s no geographic (GPCI) adjustment, so it pays the same in every state and payment locality.
No office or facility rate
Lab tests aren’t built from relative value units, so there’s no office and facility split: the place of service doesn’t change the CLFS amount.
Updated every quarter
CMS republishes the CLFS each quarter. New tests, often proprietary laboratory analyses (PLA codes), join during the year; existing amounts are updated each January.
Excluded from the physician fee schedule
The physician fee schedule lists 80305 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 80305 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $12.60.
80305 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
80305 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$12.60
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2020
27 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
80305 compared with similar tests
- 80306Drug screenInstrument-assisted optical read$17.14
- Both are presumptive drug tests, but 80306 applies when an instrument is used; 80305 is for direct optical observation.
- 80307Drug screenChemistry analyzer$62.14
- Use 80307 for presumptive testing performed with a chemical analyzer. Use 80305 when the device result is read directly by optical observation.
- 80324Amphetamine testing1 or 2 substancesNo national amount
- 80324 is an amphetamine drug screen for one or two classes. 80305 is a presumptive test read by direct optical observation and may cover any number of drug classes.
80305 billing questions
When should 80305 be selected instead of 80306 or 80307?
Use 80305 when the device result is read by direct optical observation. Use 80306 for presumptive testing with an instrument and 80307 for testing performed with a chemical analyzer.
How many units are reported when several drug classes are tested?
Report one service per date of service. The code encompasses any number of drug classes and devices or procedures.
Is sample validation separately reported?
Sample validation is included in 80305 when performed.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
CMS lists QW for the CLIA-waived version. It identifies performance by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
How does Medicare pay for 80305?
Medicare pays 80305 through the CLFS only, at one national amount that applies across localities and in both office and facility settings.
Where this amount comes from
FeeBase reads lab amounts directly from the CMS Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule file for the quarter: one row per code, with its payment indicator and national amount. Contractor-priced tests are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare payment limits, not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.
CMS CLFS 2026 Q4 · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027
Show the CMS file line behind this amount
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 80305 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist