CPT code 86900: ABO typing, serologic blood group2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Serologic ABO typing identifies a patient’s blood group for clinical decisions such as transfusion planning, pregnancy care, or other blood bank testing.
Medicare pays $2.99 for 86900 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
$2.99
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 86900 covers
ABO typing determines whether red blood cells carry A antigens, B antigens, both, or neither, establishing the person’s ABO group. A clinical laboratory or hospital blood bank performs the serologic test on a blood specimen. It is commonly ordered before transfusion and as part of prenatal or other clinical blood group testing. The result supports blood selection and compatibility work but is distinct from testing for Rh(D) and from crossmatching a specific donor unit.
Report 86900 for the ABO group determination. When performed, patient-serum blood typing and Rh(D) typing are separately represented by 86904 and 86901, respectively. Medicare pays this laboratory test under the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $2.99, unchanged since 2020. The same national amount applies across states and localities, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The physician fee schedule excludes the test by statute, so payment is through 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 86900
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 86900. 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 86900 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86900 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86900 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$2.99
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.
86900 compared with similar tests
- 86901Rh typingD antigen$2.99
- 86900 establishes the ABO group; 86901 determines Rh(D) status. They address separate blood group characteristics and may both be reported when performed.
- 86904Serum antigen screenPer donor unit screened$16.34
- 86904 represents blood typing on patient serum, while 86900 reports the ABO group determination. Patient-serum typing may accompany ABO typing when performed.
- 86920Compatibility testImmediate spin, per unitNo national amount
- 86920 is an immediate-spin compatibility test involving a donor product and patient; 86900 determines the patient’s ABO group.
86900 billing questions
When should 86900 be reported instead of 86901?
Report 86900 for serologic ABO group typing. Report 86901 for Rh(D) typing; the two tests may be performed together but identify different blood group characteristics.
How does 86900 differ from 86904?
86900 represents ABO blood group typing, while 86904 represents blood typing on patient serum. Patient-serum typing may be reported alongside ABO typing when performed.
Is ABO typing the same as a crossmatch?
No. ABO typing establishes the patient’s blood group; a compatibility test evaluates compatibility with a particular blood product, such as under 86920.
Is modifier 26 appropriate for 86900?
Medicare pays 86900 through the CLFS, and the physician fee schedule excludes the test. It is reported as a laboratory test rather than as a separately payable physician interpretation.
Which payment schedule applies to 86900?
Medicare pays 86900 under the CLFS using one national amount across all states and localities, without an office or facility payment difference.
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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