CPT code 80306: Drug screen, instrument-assisted optical read2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports a presumptive screen for drug presence across any number of drug classes when an instrument assists optical reading of the test device.
Medicare pays $17.14 for 80306 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
$17.14
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
- CMS updates
- Quarterly
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 80306 covers
This presumptive drug screen uses an assay device to test for drug presence across any number of drug classes. The result is read through instrument-assisted direct optical observation; devices may include dipsticks, cups, cards, or cartridges. The code distinguishes this reading approach from direct optical observation without instrument assistance and from presumptive testing by a chemistry analyzer.
Report one service per date of service, regardless of the number of drug classes, devices, or procedures; sample validation is included when performed. Medicare pays 80306 only through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $17.14 and has remained unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The same national amount applies across states and localities, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference. The test has no separate physician fee schedule payment.
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 80306
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 80306. 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 80306 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
80306 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
80306 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$17.14
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.
80306 compared with similar tests
- 80305Drug screenDirect optical read$12.60
- Choose 80305 when the device is read by direct optical observation without instrument assistance; 80306 requires instrument-assisted observation.
- 80307Drug screenChemistry analyzer$62.14
- 80306 describes an instrument-assisted optical read of the test device. 80307 is for presumptive testing by a chemistry analyzer.
- 80324Amphetamine testing1 or 2 substancesNo national amount
- 80324 is directed to amphetamine drug testing; 80306 identifies the presumptive screening method and can cover any number of drug classes.
80306 billing questions
How does 80306 differ from 80305?
80306 applies when an instrument assists the direct optical reading. 80305 is for direct optical observation without instrument assistance.
How does 80306 differ from 80307?
Use 80306 for instrument-assisted optical observation of the test device. 80307 describes presumptive testing by a chemistry analyzer.
How many units should be reported when several drug classes are tested?
Report one service per date of service, even when the testing covers multiple drug classes or uses multiple devices or procedures.
Is sample validation separately reported?
Sample validation, when performed, is included in the service reported with 80306.
How does Medicare pay 80306?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no office-versus-facility difference.
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
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