CPT code 82270: Fecal occult blood, three consecutive stool samples2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative guaiac-based testing of three consecutively collected stool samples screens for occult blood as part of colorectal neoplasm screening.
Medicare pays $4.38 for 82270 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
$4.38
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 82270 covers
This qualitative fecal test detects occult blood through peroxidase activity, commonly with guaiac chemistry. It is used to screen for colorectal neoplasms. The screening collection consists of stool specimens obtained consecutively using three cards or a single triple card; the analysis produces one determination for the collection. The code is specific to this stool-based screening arrangement, rather than testing occult blood in another source or using a fecal immunoassay.
Report one service for the three-specimen collection and its single determination, not one unit for each card. Medicare pays the test under the CLFS at one national amount per code, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $4.38, unchanged since 2020. Medicare pays 82270 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 82270
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 82270. 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 82270 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82270 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82270 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$4.38
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.
82270 compared with similar tests
- 82272Fecal occult bloodPeroxidase method, non-screening$4.23
- 82270 identifies qualitative guaiac screening using three consecutively collected stool specimens with one determination. 82272 is used for fecal occult blood testing involving one to three tests in another circumstance.
- 82274FIT stool testImmunoassay, 1–3 determinations$15.92
- Choose 82274 for fecal occult blood testing by immunoassay. Choose 82270 for the qualitative guaiac-based test using three consecutive stool specimens.
- 82271Occult blood testNonfecal specimen$5.32
- 82271 is for occult blood testing of sources other than feces. 82270 is specifically the stool-based colorectal screening test.
82270 billing questions
When should 82270 be selected instead of 82272?
Use 82270 for qualitative guaiac-based colorectal screening based on three consecutively collected stool specimens. 82272 is used for fecal occult blood testing involving one to three tests in a different testing circumstance.
Are the three collection cards billed as three units?
No. The service represents the three-specimen collection series with a single determination, rather than a separate unit for each card.
How does 82270 differ from 82274?
82270 is the guaiac/peroxidase-based qualitative test. 82274 is used for fecal occult blood testing by immunoassay.
How does Medicare pay for 82270?
Medicare pays 82270 under the CLFS at one national amount per code, without locality or office-versus-facility adjustment.
What documentation supports reporting 82270?
Document the colorectal screening purpose and the qualitative stool test based on three consecutively collected specimens with a single determination.
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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