CPT code 83070: Hemosiderin assay, qualitative2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A qualitative test detects hemosiderin, a hemoglobin breakdown product, often in urine sediment during evaluation of intravascular red-cell destruction.
Medicare pays $4.75 for 83070 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
$4.75
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 83070 covers
This qualitative assay detects hemosiderin, an iron-containing product formed as hemoglobin breaks down. It is commonly used to look for hemosiderin in urine sediment when evaluating intravascular hemolysis. Clinical laboratories, including hospital and physician-office laboratories, perform and report the assay as part of laboratory evaluation. The assay identifies presence rather than concentration.
Report 83070 for qualitative hemosiderin testing; it is distinct from testing for hemoglobin in urine. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount in every state and locality, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $4.75, unchanged since 2020. The test is paid only through the CLFS rather than 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 83070
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 83070. 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 83070 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83070 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83070 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$4.75
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.
83070 compared with similar tests
- 83069Urine hemoglobinUrine specimen$3.95
- 83070 detects hemosiderin, while 83069 tests for hemoglobin in urine. Choose according to the analyte specified in the order.
- 83051Plasma hemoglobinHemoglobin in plasma$7.31
- 83070 is a qualitative hemosiderin assay, commonly involving urine sediment; 83051 measures hemoglobin in plasma.
- 83010HaptoglobinQuantitative serum level$12.58
- 83070 detects hemosiderin; 83010 measures haptoglobin. They assess different markers and may both be ordered in a hemolysis workup.
83070 billing questions
When should 83070 be used instead of 83069?
Use 83070 when the ordered test detects hemosiderin. Code 83069 identifies hemoglobin in urine, a different analyte.
Is 83070 a quantitative test?
No. It represents qualitative detection of hemosiderin, not measurement of a concentration.
Can 83070 be reported with other hemolysis tests?
It may be reported with separately performed tests such as haptoglobin or plasma hemoglobin when those tests are also ordered and performed.
How does Medicare pay for 83070?
Medicare pays 83070 through the CLFS at one national amount, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. It is not paid under the physician fee schedule.
Does 83070 describe a physician interpretation?
No. It describes the qualitative laboratory assay, and Medicare payment for the test is 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
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