CPT code 85014: Hematocrit2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures the proportion of blood volume occupied by red blood cells, commonly to assess anemia, blood loss, erythrocytosis, or changes in fluid status.
Medicare pays $2.37 for 85014 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
$2.37
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
- $2.37
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 85014 covers
A hematocrit test measures the concentration of red blood cells in a blood specimen, reported as the portion of the sample’s volume occupied by those cells. Clinicians use the result when evaluating or monitoring anemia, blood loss, erythrocytosis, and fluid-related changes. It may be ordered as a standalone test or as part of a broader blood count. Clinical laboratories, hospital laboratories, and eligible waived-testing sites perform the test.
Report this code for a separately performed hematocrit test, not as an additional charge for the hematocrit included in a complete blood count. CMS also lists a CLIA-waived version with modifier QW for sites holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS, at one national amount without geographic, locality, office, or facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $2.37, unchanged each year from 2020 through 2026.
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 85014
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 85014. 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 85014 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 85014 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $2.37.
85014 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
85014 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$2.37
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.
85014 compared with similar tests
- 85013MicrohematocritSpun method$7.00
- 85013 is specifically for a spun microhematocrit. Use 85014 for a hematocrit test that is not identified as spun microhematocrit.
- 85018HemoglobinHemoglobin only$2.37
- 85018 measures hemoglobin concentration, while 85014 measures the red-cell proportion of blood volume. They may be ordered together but represent different tests.
- 85027Complete CBCWithout automated differential$6.47
- 85027 reports a complete automated CBC, which includes hematocrit. Use 85014 for a separately performed hematocrit test rather than separately billing a CBC component.
85014 billing questions
When should this code be used instead of 85013?
Use 85014 for a hematocrit test that is not specifically reported as a spun microhematocrit. Code 85013 identifies the spun microhematocrit method.
Can hematocrit be billed separately with a complete CBC?
Hematocrit is included in complete CBC services such as 85025 and 85027. Do not separately bill 85014 for the hematocrit included in that CBC.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
Use QW for the CLIA-waived version when the testing site holds a CLIA certificate of waiver.
How does Medicare pay for 85014?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at a single national rate that applies across localities and settings.
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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