CPT code 85013: Microhematocrit, spun method2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A centrifuged blood test measuring the proportion of red blood cells in a sample, reported when a standalone spun microhematocrit is performed.
Medicare pays $7.00 for 85013 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
$7.00
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 85013 covers
A spun microhematocrit estimates the proportion of blood volume occupied by red blood cells, also called packed cell volume. The laboratory spins a blood-filled capillary tube and reads the red cell layer as a percentage of the sample. It can provide a rapid hematocrit measurement when a clinician needs a focused assessment, including during evaluation of anemia. The test may be performed in a clinical laboratory or office setting.
Report 85013 for the spun microhematocrit procedure, rather than selecting a hematocrit code solely because the result is a hematocrit. When a CBC is performed, its hematocrit is part of that broader test; 85013 represents a separately performed spun test, not an additional way to report the same measurement. Medicare pays this test only through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $7.00, unchanged since 2020; one amount applies nationwide, without locality or office-versus-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 85013
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 85013. 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 85013 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
85013 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
85013 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$7.00
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.
85013 compared with similar tests
- 85014Hematocrit$2.37
- Use 85013 for the spun microhematocrit method; 85014 represents a hematocrit performed by another method.
- 85018HemoglobinHemoglobin only$2.37
- 85018 measures hemoglobin concentration. A spun microhematocrit measures the proportion of blood volume occupied by red cells.
- 85027Complete CBCWithout automated differential$6.47
- 85027 reports an automated CBC without differential, a broader test that includes hematocrit. 85013 is for a separately performed spun microhematocrit.
- 85025Complete CBCAutomated differential$7.77
- 85025 reports an automated CBC with differential, not an isolated spun microhematocrit.
85013 billing questions
How is 85013 different from 85014?
85013 identifies a hematocrit measured using the spun microhematocrit method. Use 85014 for a hematocrit performed by a method other than the spun method.
Can 85013 be reported with a CBC?
A CBC includes a hematocrit result. Report 85013 only when a spun microhematocrit is separately performed, rather than to repeat the hematocrit already represented by the CBC.
Is 85013 a hemoglobin test?
No. It measures the proportion of the blood sample occupied by red blood cells. Code 85018 is used for a hemoglobin measurement.
How does Medicare pay for 85013?
Medicare pays 85013 through the CLFS only. The national amount is the same across localities and settings.
Does 85013 have a separately payable physician interpretation?
No. Medicare pays 85013 through the CLFS only.
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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