CPT code 86710: Influenza antibody, serologic testing2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures antibodies to influenza virus in a serologic evaluation, such as investigating prior exposure or the body’s antibody response.
Medicare pays $13.55 for 86710 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
$13.55
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 86710 covers
This laboratory test measures antibodies directed against influenza virus. It may be ordered as part of a serologic investigation of prior exposure or an immune response; antibody findings alone do not establish current acute influenza infection. A clinical laboratory performs the assay, commonly on serum, and reports the result to the ordering clinician.
For influenza testing intended to detect a current infection, antigen or molecular testing evaluates a different target. Medicare pays 86710 only through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $13.55, unchanged since 2020. The same national amount applies in every locality, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility payment difference.
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 86710
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 86710. 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 86710 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86710 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86710 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$13.55
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.
86710 compared with similar tests
- 87804Influenza assayDirect visual immunoassay$16.55
- 86710 measures antibodies to influenza virus; 87804 detects influenza viral antigen. Choose based on the target of the test performed.
- 87502Influenza NAATFirst two types or subtypes$95.80
- 86710 measures the patient’s antibody response, while 87502 detects influenza genetic material using a molecular method.
- 86713Legionella antibody$15.30
- Both measure antibodies, but 86713 targets Legionella rather than influenza virus.
86710 billing questions
When should 86710 be reported instead of an influenza antigen or molecular test?
Report 86710 when the laboratory measures antibodies to influenza virus. Antigen and molecular tests detect different targets and may be used when testing for current infection.
Does an influenza antibody result confirm current influenza?
No. The test measures the patient’s antibody response, which may reflect prior exposure or an immune response; it does not by itself establish current acute infection.
What specimen is commonly used?
Serum is commonly used for influenza antibody testing.
Is 86710 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 86710 through the CLFS. Its national amount applies across localities and does not vary between office and facility settings.
Does 86710 have a separate physician interpretation payment?
No. Medicare pays this test only 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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