CPT code 86885: Indirect Coombs, qualitative, each reagent cell2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative indirect antiglobulin testing detects red-cell-reactive antibodies and is reported for each reagent red cell tested in transfusion or alloantibody evaluation.
Medicare pays $5.72 for 86885 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
$5.72
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 86885 covers
This indirect antiglobulin (Coombs) test checks whether antibodies in a patient’s serum react with reagent red blood cells. Transfusion-service laboratories use it in red-cell antibody evaluations, including workups after a reactive antibody screen and compatibility investigations; it is also used in pregnancy-related alloantibody evaluation. The qualitative result indicates whether reactivity is present rather than measuring an antibody titer. The code distinguishes testing performed with each reagent red cell.
Report the qualitative test for each reagent red cell tested; use 86886 when an indirect antiglobulin titer is being measured. Medicare pays the test through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) only. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.72, unchanged since 2020. The amount is the same nationwide, without locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test 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 86885
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 86885. 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 86885 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86885 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86885 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.72
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.
86885 compared with similar tests
- 86850Antibody screenRed blood cell antibodies$9.77
- Choose 86850 for the red-cell antibody screen. 86885 describes qualitative indirect testing with each reagent red cell during evaluation.
- 86886Antibody titerIndirect antiglobulin method$5.18
- 86885 is qualitative; 86886 is used when the indirect antiglobulin test determines an antibody titer.
- 86880Direct CoombsEach antiserum$5.39
- 86885 tests serum reactivity against reagent red cells. 86880 evaluates antibodies or complement associated with the patient’s red cells.
- 86870RBC antibody IDPer antibody panelNo national amount
- 86885 detects qualitative reactivity with reagent red cells; 86870 identifies the specificity of red-cell antibodies.
86885 billing questions
How does 86885 differ from 86850?
86850 is the red-cell antibody screen. 86885 describes qualitative indirect antiglobulin testing with each reagent red cell, such as testing performed during further evaluation.
When should 86886 be used instead?
Use 86886 when the indirect antiglobulin test measures an antibody titer. Code 86885 represents qualitative testing.
What unit does 86885 represent?
The code is defined for each reagent red cell tested. It is not a titer code.
How does 86885 differ from the direct Coombs test?
86885 detects serum antibodies reacting with reagent red cells. The direct test, 86880, evaluates antibodies or complement associated with the patient’s red cells.
How does Medicare pay for 86885?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS only, at one nationwide amount with no locality or office/facility adjustment.
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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