CPT code 82248: Bilirubin, direct fraction2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Direct bilirubin testing measures the direct-reacting fraction and is reported when a clinician requests it to evaluate jaundice or abnormal liver findings.
Medicare pays $5.02 for 82248 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
$5.02
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 82248 covers
Direct bilirubin testing measures the direct-reacting bilirubin fraction in blood, commonly serum or plasma. The result helps evaluate jaundice and abnormal liver findings and is often considered with total bilirubin. Clinical laboratories perform the assay for outpatient practices and hospitals; ordering clinicians use it when assessment calls for a direct fraction rather than total bilirubin alone.
Report 82248 for a direct bilirubin assay. Direct bilirubin is included in the hepatic function panel (80076); when the full set of panel tests is performed, report the panel rather than separately coding an included component. Medicare pays 82248 under the CLFS at one national amount, with the same amount across localities and no office or facility difference. The 2026 national amount is $5.02, unchanged since 2020. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule and is paid only through the CLFS.
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 82248
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 82248. 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 82248 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82248 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82248 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.02
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.
82248 compared with similar tests
- 82247BilirubinTotal, blood specimen$5.02
- Code 82248 measures direct bilirubin; 82247 measures total bilirubin. Both may be ordered when the clinician needs the fractions as well as the total.
- 80076Liver panelSeven liver chemistry tests$8.17
- Code 80076 reports a hepatic function panel that includes direct bilirubin. Report 82248 for a direct bilirubin assay outside a fully performed panel.
- 82252Fecal bilirubinQualitative, stool$4.56
- Code 82252 is for fecal bilirubin testing; 82248 measures direct bilirubin in blood.
82248 billing questions
When should I report direct rather than total bilirubin?
Report 82248 for a direct bilirubin assay. Code 82247 is for total bilirubin; clinicians may request both to assess the bilirubin fractions.
Can I report 82248 with a hepatic function panel?
Direct bilirubin is included in panel 80076. When the full set of panel tests is performed, report the panel rather than separately coding the included direct bilirubin test.
Does Medicare pay 82248 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS; the code is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
Is 82248 the same as a fecal bilirubin test?
No. Code 82248 measures direct bilirubin in blood. Code 82252 is for fecal bilirubin testing.
How does 82248 relate to a comprehensive metabolic panel?
A comprehensive metabolic panel (80053) includes total bilirubin, not direct bilirubin. A clinician may request a direct bilirubin assay as well when the direct fraction is needed.
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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