CPT code 0179U: Lung cancer panel, 23-gene cfDNA analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
This 23-gene cell-free DNA assay detects significant mutations in non-small cell lung cancer and is reported for the specific assay performed.
Medicare pays $1,943.21 for 0179U 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
$1,943.21
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2022
- 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 7 sections
What 0179U covers
0179U represents an oncology molecular assay that examines cell-free DNA across targeted sequences in 23 genes for non-small cell lung cancer. The analysis detects sequence changes including single-nucleotide variants, insertions and deletions, gene fusions without requiring advance identification of the fusion partner or breakpoint, and copy-number changes; the report identifies significant mutations. This is a specific cfDNA assay, distinct from a general multigene DNA panel or tumor protein test.
Medicare pays 0179U through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule at one national amount. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $1,943.21, unchanged from 2022 through 2026. The amount applies across states and localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. Medicare pays this code 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 0179U
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 0179U. 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.
Not on the physician fee schedule
The physician fee schedule doesn’t list 0179U: Medicare pays the test only from the CLFS.
0179U on the lab fee schedule since 2020
0179U · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$1,943.21
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2022
Every change on file
- Jan 1, 2022 · CLFS 2022 Q1MAC-priced → $1,943.21
26 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q3. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
0179U compared with similar tests
- 0171UGenomic panel23-gene blood cancer panel$1,519.06
- 0171U identifies a targeted gene-sequencing analysis panel of DNA. 0179U is a 23-gene cell-free DNA assay for non-small cell lung cancer.
- 0172UTumor gene assayBRCA1/2 and genomic instability$3,030.00
- 0172U is an oncology solid-tumor assay focused on BRCA1 and BRCA2. 0179U analyzes cell-free DNA across 23 genes for non-small cell lung cancer.
- 0174UTumor protein assay30 targets by mass spectrometry$1,305.37
- 0174U is a solid-tumor assay targeting 30 proteins. 0179U analyzes targeted cell-free DNA sequences in 23 genes.
- 0177UPIK3CA testPlasma, 11 variants$274.83
- 0177U is a breast cancer DNA assay focused on PIK3CA. 0179U is a 23-gene cell-free DNA assay for non-small cell lung cancer.
0179U billing questions
Which test matches 0179U?
Use 0179U for the specific 23-gene cell-free DNA assay for non-small cell lung cancer.
What genetic changes does the assay detect?
It analyzes single-nucleotide variants, insertions and deletions, gene fusions without prior identification of the partner or breakpoint, and copy-number changes. The report identifies significant mutations.
How does 0179U differ from 0171U?
0171U identifies a targeted gene-sequencing analysis panel of DNA. 0179U is the specific cell-free DNA assay for non-small cell lung cancer.
How does Medicare pay 0179U?
Medicare pays one national CLFS amount across states and localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment.
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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