CPT code 82252: Fecal bilirubin, qualitative, stool2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A qualitative stool bilirubin analysis is reported for fecal bilirubin testing, distinct from fecal occult blood testing and total or direct bilirubin assays.
Medicare pays $4.56 for 82252 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
$4.56
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 82252 covers
Code 82252 identifies a qualitative laboratory analysis of stool for bilirubin. The reported finding is qualitative, distinguishing this analysis from total and direct bilirubin assays reported under neighboring codes. Its specimen is feces, and it is distinct from fecal occult blood assays, which examine stool for blood. A laboratory reports the result for the fecal bilirubin analysis.
Report 82252 when the laboratory performs this qualitative fecal bilirubin analysis. Medicare pays it only through the CLFS, at one nationally set amount that applies in every state and locality without geographic or office/facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $4.56, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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 82252
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 82252. 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 82252 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82252 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82252 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$4.56
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.
82252 compared with similar tests
- 82247BilirubinTotal, blood specimen$5.02
- Use 82247 for a total bilirubin assay. Use 82252 for qualitative bilirubin analysis of stool.
- 82248BilirubinDirect fraction$5.02
- Use 82248 for a direct bilirubin assay; 82252 is the qualitative stool bilirubin test.
- 82270Fecal occult bloodThree consecutive stool samples$4.38
- 82270 reports fecal occult blood testing, not bilirubin testing. Select 82252 when the analyte tested in stool is bilirubin.
- 82274FIT stool testImmunoassay, 1–3 determinations$15.92
- 82274 is a fecal blood assay. It does not report qualitative stool bilirubin analysis, which is reported with 82252.
82252 billing questions
How does 82252 differ from 82247 and 82248?
82252 reports qualitative bilirubin analysis of stool. Code 82247 is for total bilirubin, and 82248 is for direct bilirubin.
Is 82252 a fecal occult blood test?
No. It evaluates bilirubin in stool; occult blood codes evaluate blood in a fecal specimen.
What specimen does 82252 test?
The test analyzes a stool specimen for bilirubin and reports a qualitative result.
How does Medicare pay 82252?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS. The national amount applies in every locality, with no office or facility difference.
Is there a separate physician-fee-schedule payment for 82252?
No. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS.
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
Put 82252 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Build my fee sheet