CPT code 82274: FIT stool test, immunoassay, 1–3 determinations2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative stool testing for blood by fecal hemoglobin immunoassay, commonly used in colorectal cancer screening and evaluation of occult gastrointestinal bleeding.
Medicare pays $15.92 for 82274 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
$15.92
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
- $15.92
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 82274 covers
This test checks a fecal specimen for blood using an immunoassay that detects hemoglobin. Clinicians commonly order it for colorectal cancer screening or when evaluating possible occult gastrointestinal bleeding. It is performed by a clinical laboratory or, when the waived version is used, by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. The test is qualitative rather than a measurement of the amount of blood present.
Report 82274 for the fecal hemoglobin immunoassay, which covers one to three simultaneous determinations. Use modifier QW when reporting the CLIA-waived version. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS; the 2026 national amount is $15.92 and has remained unchanged since 2020. The same CLFS amount applies in every state and locality, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The physician fee schedule excludes this test by statute.
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 82274
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 82274. 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 82274 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 82274 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $15.92.
82274 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82274 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$15.92
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.
82274 compared with similar tests
- 82270Fecal occult bloodThree consecutive stool samples$4.38
- Choose 82274 for fecal hemoglobin immunoassay. Code 82270 is for fecal occult blood testing by a peroxidase method, such as guaiac.
- 82272Fecal occult bloodPeroxidase method, non-screening$4.23
- Code 82272 is the peroxidase-based fecal occult blood option for diagnostic testing and covers one to three simultaneous determinations. Code 82274 uses immunoassay.
- 82271Occult blood testNonfecal specimen$5.32
- Code 82271 is for occult blood testing of a source other than feces. Use 82274 when the specimen is fecal and the method is immunoassay.
82274 billing questions
How does 82274 differ from 82270?
82274 is the fecal hemoglobin immunoassay. Code 82270 describes fecal occult blood testing by a peroxidase method, such as guaiac.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
Use QW when reporting the CLIA-waived version of the test performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
Does 82274 cover multiple determinations?
The code describes a qualitative fecal immunoassay with one to three simultaneous determinations. Do not treat each determination as a separate assay code.
Is 82274 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS, and its CLFS amount is the same across localities and settings.
What specimen does 82274 report?
It reports an immunoassay for blood in feces. Do not use it for occult blood testing of a nonfecal source.
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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