CPT code 86886: Antibody titer, indirect antiglobulin method2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures the titer of a red cell antibody, commonly to evaluate maternal alloantibodies associated with risk of fetal anemia.
Medicare pays $5.18 for 86886 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
$5.18
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 86886 covers
This test estimates the level of a red cell antibody in patient serum by testing serial dilutions against red cells and identifying the endpoint reaction. It is commonly ordered in pregnancy when a maternal red cell antibody has been detected, to assess its titer in relation to potential fetal risk. Hospital blood banks and reference laboratories perform the testing, typically at the request of an obstetric clinician or transfusion service.
Report 86886 for each antibody titer performed; it represents titration rather than a qualitative indirect antiglobulin result. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.18, unchanged since 2020. Medicare pays one amount per code nationwide, without locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is paid only under the CLFS.
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 86886
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 86886. 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 86886 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86886 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86886 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.18
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.
86886 compared with similar tests
- 86885Indirect CoombsQualitative, each reagent cell$5.72
- 86885 reports a qualitative indirect antiglobulin result. Use 86886 when the laboratory determines an antibody titer.
- 86850Antibody screenRed blood cell antibodies$9.77
- 86850 is a red cell antibody screen. It detects antibodies for screening and does not report the titer measured with 86886.
- 86870RBC antibody IDPer antibody panelNo national amount
- 86870 identifies a red cell antibody; 86886 measures its titer. Identification and titration are distinct laboratory services.
- 86880Direct CoombsEach antiserum$5.39
- 86880 is a direct antiglobulin test on red cells. Code 86886 measures antibodies in serum using an indirect method.
86886 billing questions
When should 86886 be reported instead of 86885?
Use 86886 when the laboratory performs a red cell antibody titer. Code 86885 describes a qualitative indirect antiglobulin test rather than titration.
How many units should be reported?
Report one unit for each antibody titer performed. The code is not reported once per dilution in the titration series.
Is this the same as a red cell antibody screen?
No. Code 86850 is the antibody screen; 86886 reports a titer when antibody level is being assessed.
Can 86886 be billed with antibody identification?
A laboratory may identify an antibody with 86870 and perform a titer with 86886 as part of the same workup. Report each service when performed and documented.
How does Medicare pay for 86886?
Medicare pays the test under the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is paid only under 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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