CPT code 86902: Donor antigen test, each antigen tested2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Serologic testing of donor red cells for a specified blood-group antigen supports selection of compatible units when transfusion testing requires antigen matching.
Medicare pays $6.35 for 86902 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
$6.35
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 86902 covers
A transfusion service or blood bank tests donor red cells with reagent serum to determine whether a particular blood-group antigen is present. This testing is commonly part of selecting donor units for a patient with a clinically significant red-cell antibody, when units lacking the corresponding antigen are needed. The result helps guide unit selection; it is distinct from testing the patient’s red cells or performing a compatibility test between patient serum and donor cells.
Report one service for each antigen tested. Medicare pays this test only through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), at one national amount per code in every locality, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $6.35, unchanged since 2020. 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 86902
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 86902. 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 86902 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86902 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86902 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$6.35
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.
86902 compared with similar tests
- 86905RBC antigen typingOther than ABO or Rh(D)$3.83
- Use 86902 for antigen testing of donor blood with reagent serum. Code 86905 addresses red-cell antigen typing rather than this donor-unit test.
- 86904Serum antigen screenPer donor unit screened$16.34
- Code 86904 is blood typing based on patient serum; 86902 tests donor red cells for a specified antigen.
- 86920Compatibility testImmediate spin, per unitNo national amount
- Code 86920 is an immediate-spin compatibility test for a donor unit and patient. Code 86902 checks for a particular antigen on donor red cells.
- 86922Antiglobulin crossmatchPer donor unitNo national amount
- Code 86922 is an antiglobulin compatibility test between patient and donor blood. Code 86902 identifies a specified antigen on donor cells.
86902 billing questions
When should the donor antigen test be reported?
Report it when a blood bank tests donor red cells with reagent serum for a particular antigen, such as during selection of antigen-negative units for a patient with a relevant red-cell antibody.
How is the number of services determined?
The code is reported for each antigen test performed. The service count is based on antigens tested, not simply the number of donor units evaluated.
How does this differ from a crossmatch?
This test determines whether donor red cells carry a specified antigen. A crossmatch evaluates compatibility between a donor unit and the patient’s blood.
Is this the same as typing the patient's red cells?
No. This code concerns antigen testing of donor blood; patient red-cell antigen typing is reported with a different code.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS using one national amount per code across localities, with no 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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 86902 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist