CPT code 85041: RBC count, automated2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
An automated red blood cell count measures the number of circulating erythrocytes and may be ordered to assess or monitor anemia and other blood disorders.
Medicare pays $3.02 for 85041 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
$3.02
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 85041 covers
This test counts red blood cells in a blood specimen using an automated analyzer. Clinicians may order it when evaluating or monitoring anemia, erythrocytosis, or other conditions affecting red cell numbers. Clinical laboratories, including hospital and independent laboratories, perform the test; it may also be part of a complete blood count. The count measures the number of erythrocytes and is distinct from hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit, which are separate measurements.
Report 85041 for a separately performed automated RBC count, not for the RBC result included in an automated CBC. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $3.02, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. Medicare pays one CLFS amount per code nationwide, without locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is paid through the CLFS and is excluded from 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 85041
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 85041. 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 85041 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
85041 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
85041 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$3.02
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.
85041 compared with similar tests
- 85027Complete CBCWithout automated differential$6.47
- 85027 is for an automated complete CBC and includes an RBC count. Use 85041 for the automated RBC count alone.
- 85025Complete CBCAutomated differential$7.77
- 85025 is for a complete CBC with an automated differential. Use 85041 when only the automated RBC count is performed.
- 85032Manual cell countErythrocyte, leukocyte, or platelet$4.31
- 85032 describes a manual cell count. Code 85041 is for an automated red blood cell count.
85041 billing questions
When should 85041 be reported instead of 85027?
Use 85041 for a separately performed automated RBC count. Code 85027 describes an automated complete CBC, which includes an RBC count.
How does 85041 differ from 85025?
Code 85025 describes a complete CBC with an automated white blood cell differential. Use 85041 when the service is an automated RBC count rather than that complete panel.
Can 85041 be reported when a CBC is performed?
The RBC result is part of a CBC, so do not separately report 85041 for that included result.
Does 85041 measure hemoglobin or hematocrit?
No. It counts red blood cells; hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit are distinct measurements.
How does Medicare pay for 85041?
Medicare pays the test under the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. It is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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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