CPT code 88285: Chromosome count, additional cells per study2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports additional cells counted as part of a chromosome analysis when the study requires counts beyond those represented by its primary analysis service.
Medicare pays $26.91 for 88285 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
$26.91
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 88285 covers
88285 reports the counting of cells beyond the count represented by the primary chromosome-analysis service. A cytogenetics laboratory performs this work as part of a chromosome study, evaluating chromosome number and structure. The additional count is associated with the study rather than billed once for every individual cell; the study’s primary chromosome-analysis code identifies the underlying analysis. This code distinguishes extra cell counting from a separate additional chromosome study.
Report 88285 with the applicable primary chromosome analysis code when additional cells are counted; the unit is per study, not per cell. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $26.91, unchanged in each year from 2020 through 2026. Medicare pays one CLFS amount per code nationwide, without locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is paid only under the CLFS, not 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 88285
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 88285. 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 88285 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88285 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88285 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$26.91
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.
88285 compared with similar tests
- 88264Chromosome analysis20-25 cells$144.61
- 88264 represents a primary chromosome analysis with a 20–25-cell count. Use 88285 for additional cells counted beyond the applicable primary study.
- 88263Chromosome analysis45 cells for mosaicism$150.29
- 88263 represents a primary chromosome analysis with a 45-cell count; 88285 reports additional cells counted for a study.
- 88289Chromosome studyHigh-resolution add-on$34.43
- 88289 is for an additional chromosome study. 88285 is specifically for counting additional cells within a study.
88285 billing questions
When is 88285 reported with a chromosome analysis?
Use it when the laboratory counts additional cells beyond the count represented by the primary chromosome analysis service. Report it with the applicable primary study code.
Is 88285 billed per additional cell?
No. The code is reported per study, not once for each cell counted.
How does 88285 differ from 88289?
88285 represents counting additional cells. 88289 represents an additional chromosome study, rather than additional cells counted within a study.
Can 88285 be reported as a standalone service?
It is an add-on for a primary chromosome analysis, so report it with the applicable primary study code rather than by itself.
How does Medicare pay 88285?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at one national amount per code. The amount is the same across localities and in office and facility settings.
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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