CPT code 86833: HLA antibody, high-definition qualitative2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports a high-definition qualitative panel identifying antibody specificities against class II HLA antigens, commonly for transplant compatibility assessment or post-transplant monitoring.
Medicare pays $325.80 for 86833 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
$325.80
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 86833 covers
Code 86833 reports high-definition qualitative assessment of antibodies directed against class II human leukocyte antigens. Histocompatibility laboratories use solid-phase methods such as bead or microsphere assays, ELISA, or flow cytometry to identify antibody specificities, including those directed at individual antigens. Transplant teams may order the test during donor-compatibility evaluation or after transplantation to assess anti-HLA antibodies. It measures antibodies, unlike HLA typing, which identifies a person's HLA type.
Report the qualitative class II panel performed; the code represents the panel rather than a separate unit for each antibody specificity. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $325.80, unchanged since 2020. The test is paid only from 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 86833
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 86833. 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 86833 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86833 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86833 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$325.80
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.
86833 compared with similar tests
- 86832HLA antibody panelClass I, high-definition qualitative$323.75
- 86832 assesses class I HLA antibodies with high-definition qualitative testing; 86833 assesses class II.
- 86835HLA antibody panelClass II, semiquantitative$322.96
- Both assess class II HLA antibodies, but 86835 is semiquantitative rather than high-definition qualitative.
- 86828HLA antibodiesBoth HLA classes$64.19
- 86828 covers class I and class II HLA antibodies qualitatively; 86833 is specifically a high-definition class II panel.
- 86816HLA typingDR/DQ, single antigen$30.17
- 86816 reports HLA typing for DR/DQ; 86833 identifies antibodies against class II HLA antigens.
86833 billing questions
When should 86833 be selected instead of 86832?
Use 86833 for a high-definition qualitative panel of class II HLA antibodies. Code 86832 is its class I counterpart.
How does 86833 differ from 86835?
Both address class II HLA antibodies, but 86833 is the high-definition qualitative panel; 86835 is the semiquantitative panel.
Are units counted for each antibody specificity?
No. The code represents the high-definition qualitative panel, not a separate unit for each specificity identified.
Does Medicare pay 86833 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays it through the CLFS, using one national amount across localities and settings.
How is 86833 different from HLA typing?
86833 detects antibodies against class II HLA antigens. HLA typing codes identify the patient's HLA type.
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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