CPT code 82271: Occult blood test, nonfecal specimen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative peroxidase-based testing detects occult blood in nonfecal specimens, such as gastric contents, when clinicians investigate suspected bleeding.
Medicare pays $5.32 for 82271 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
$5.32
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
- $5.32
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 82271 covers
82271 reports qualitative peroxidase-based testing for occult blood in a specimen other than feces; guaiac is a common method. Clinicians may order it to check nonstool samples, such as gastric contents, for blood when evaluating suspected bleeding. Clinical laboratories perform the test, and eligible sites with a CLIA certificate of waiver may offer the waived version.
Report 82271 for the nonfecal specimen rather than a fecal occult-blood test. For the CLIA-waived version, use modifier QW when performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS only. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.32, unchanged since 2020; one amount applies nationwide, without locality or office/facility adjustment.
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 82271
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 82271. 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 82271 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 82271 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $5.32.
82271 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82271 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.32
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.
82271 compared with similar tests
- 82270Fecal occult bloodThree consecutive stool samples$4.38
- 82270 is for fecal occult-blood testing. Use 82271 when the specimen is from a nonfecal source.
- 82272Fecal occult bloodPeroxidase method, non-screening$4.23
- 82272 identifies fecal occult-blood testing for 1–3 tests; 82271 is for a specimen other than feces.
- 82274FIT stool testImmunoassay, 1–3 determinations$15.92
- 82274 is an immunochemical fecal occult-blood test. 82271 is qualitative peroxidase-based testing for a nonfecal specimen.
82271 billing questions
When should 82271 be used instead of a fecal occult-blood code?
Use 82271 when the specimen is from a source other than feces. Fecal specimens are reported with the applicable fecal occult-blood code.
Does 82271 describe a test for gastric contents?
Yes. Gastric contents are an example of a nonfecal source that may be tested for occult blood.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
Use QW for the CLIA-waived version when the testing site holds a CLIA certificate of waiver.
Is 82271 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS only, with the same national amount across localities and no office/facility adjustment.
Can 82271 be reported for a stool specimen?
No. Select the applicable fecal occult-blood code for stool; 82271 is for other sources.
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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