CPT code 82747: RBC folate, red blood cell level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures folate within red blood cells to assess folate status, commonly during evaluation of macrocytic anemia or suspected folate deficiency.
Medicare pays $17.65 for 82747 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
$17.65
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 82747 covers
This laboratory assay measures folate in red blood cells, rather than folate circulating in serum. Clinicians may order it when evaluating suspected folate deficiency, macrocytic anemia, or a nutritional or absorption problem. The test is generally performed by a clinical laboratory on a blood specimen; it is distinct from a serum folate assay even when both are considered during an anemia workup.
Report 82747 for the RBC folate assay performed. Medicare pays it from the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), with one national amount in every locality and no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $17.65, unchanged since 2020. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS, not 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 82747
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 82747. 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 82747 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82747 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82747 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$17.65
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.
82747 compared with similar tests
- 82746Folate testSerum specimen$14.70
- Use 82746 for serum folate measurement and 82747 for folate measured in red blood cells. These are different specimen fractions, not interchangeable assay descriptions.
- 82607Vitamin B12Level assay$15.08
- 82607 measures vitamin B12. It may be ordered alongside RBC folate testing in an anemia evaluation, but it measures a different nutrient.
- 85025Complete CBCAutomated differential$7.77
- 85025 reports a CBC with automated differential, which evaluates blood cell counts and characteristics. It does not measure RBC folate.
82747 billing questions
How does 82747 differ from serum folate code 82746?
82747 measures folate in red blood cells. Use 82746 when the laboratory measures folate in serum.
Is 82747 reported for a complete blood count or anemia panel?
Report 82747 for the RBC folate assay itself; a CBC or other anemia tests are separate services when performed.
Does Medicare pay 82747 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this laboratory test only through the CLFS, using one national amount across localities and settings.
Can vitamin B12 testing be reported with 82747?
Yes, when vitamin B12 is separately tested as part of the clinical evaluation. The B12 assay does not replace the RBC folate assay.
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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