CPT code 86706: Surface antibody, hepatitis B2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen to assess immune response after vaccination, prior infection, or as part of hepatitis B serologic evaluation.
Medicare pays $10.74 for 86706 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
$10.74
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 86706 covers
This blood test detects antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs). Clinicians order it to assess immune response after hepatitis B vaccination, evaluate serologic status after prior infection, or include it in a broader hepatitis B evaluation. Clinical laboratories perform the assay for outpatient and facility-based care. A positive result can occur after vaccination or recovery from infection; this test alone does not distinguish between those causes or establish current infection.
When other hepatitis B markers are also performed, report the surface-antibody assay separately from tests for core antibody or surface antigen. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no office or facility payment difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $10.74, unchanged since 2020. The test is paid only from 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 86706
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 86706. 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 86706 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86706 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86706 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$10.74
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.
86706 compared with similar tests
- 86704Core antibodyTotal antibody$12.05
- 86704 measures total antibody to hepatitis B core antigen; 86706 measures antibody to surface antigen. The markers provide different information.
- 86707Hepatitis B antibodyAnti-HBe$11.57
- 86707 measures antibody to hepatitis B e antigen. Use 86706 for antibody to surface antigen.
- 87340HBsAg testSurface antigen immunoassay$10.33
- 87340 is for hepatitis B surface antigen testing, not surface antibody measurement. The two tests assess different markers.
86706 billing questions
How does this test differ from hepatitis B core antibody testing?
This test detects antibodies to the hepatitis B surface antigen. Code 86704 detects total antibodies to the core antigen, a different marker used in hepatitis B serologic assessment.
Does a positive result show whether immunity came from vaccination or infection?
No. Anti-HBs can follow vaccination or recovery from infection; interpretation with other hepatitis B markers helps distinguish the clinical context.
Does this code include hepatitis B surface antigen testing?
No. Surface antibody and surface antigen are separate tests. Surface antigen testing is reported with code 87340.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. It is paid only from 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
Fee sheets
Put 86706 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Build my fee sheet