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88241 Frozen cell preparation

What 88241 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Frozen cell preparation.

Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.

Medicare payment for 88241 (CY2026)

This code has no Physician Fee Schedule rate: Statutory exclusion - not payable under the Physician Fee Schedule. It may be paid under a different fee schedule (clinical laboratory, DMEPOS, anesthesia) or not paid at all - check the relevant CMS schedule.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 88241 at 3 units per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 3 - date of service edit (clinical): units above the MUE may pay with documentation on appeal), rationale: Clinical: Data. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 88241? These codes are bundled into it

88241 is a Column 1 code in 2 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.

Column 2 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
86931Frozen blood thaw0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
96523Irrig drug delivery device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

88241 is bundled into these codes

88241 appears as a Column 2 code in 3 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 88241 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0018M1Check pair
81560Trnsplj pd lvr&bwl cd154+cll0Check pair
86932Frozen blood freeze/thaw0Check pair

Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.