CPT code 86834: HLA antibody panel, class I, semiquantitative2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures HLA class I antibodies with a semiquantitative panel, supporting transplant-related assessment of antibody reactivity in candidates or recipients.
Medicare pays $357.56 for 86834 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
$357.56
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 86834 covers
This test assesses antibodies directed against human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I. Testing uses solid-phase methods, which can include beads or microspheres, ELISA, or flow cytometry, and reports a semiquantitative result such as a titer. Transplant programs may order it when evaluating HLA antibody reactivity in a transplant candidate or recipient. Histocompatibility and immunology laboratories commonly perform the testing for transplant centers and hospitals.
Report this code for the class I semiquantitative panel, rather than a class II panel or a qualitative HLA antibody test. Medicare pays the test under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $357.56, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The CLFS payment is one amount per code nationwide, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment.
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 86834
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 86834. 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 86834 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86834 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86834 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$357.56
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.
86834 compared with similar tests
- 86835HLA antibody panelClass II, semiquantitative$322.96
- Both are semiquantitative HLA antibody panels; 86834 is for class I, while 86835 is for class II.
- 86832HLA antibody panelClass I, high-definition qualitative$323.75
- 86834 reports a semiquantitative class I panel. 86832 is the high-definition qualitative class I antibody test.
- 86828HLA antibodiesBoth HLA classes$64.19
- 86828 is qualitative HLA class I and II antibody testing; 86834 is a semiquantitative panel for class I.
86834 billing questions
When should this code be selected instead of 86835?
Use 86834 for the semiquantitative HLA class I antibody panel. Code 86835 is the corresponding semiquantitative panel for HLA class II.
How does this differ from 86832?
Code 86834 describes a semiquantitative class I antibody panel. Code 86832 describes a high-definition qualitative class I antibody test.
Is this a qualitative HLA antibody test?
No. This code is for a semiquantitative class I panel, such as a titer; qualitative HLA antibody testing is represented by other codes, including 86828.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at one national amount per code, with no geographic 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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