CPT code 0206U: Alzheimer cell test, cultured skin fibroblasts2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports a cultured skin-cell aggregation assay as positive or negative for Alzheimer disease after laboratory imaging and protein-response testing.
Medicare pays $2,215.40 for 0206U 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
$2,215.40
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 8 sections
What 0206U covers
This proprietary laboratory test evaluates cultured skin fibroblasts for a cell-aggregation response associated with Alzheimer disease. The laboratory exposes the cultured cells to amylospheroids and assesses the response using morphometric imaging and measurement of protein kinase C-epsilon concentration by ELISA. The result is reported as positive or negative for Alzheimer disease. Clinicians may order it when evaluating a patient for Alzheimer disease; the laboratory performs the assay on the cultured cells.
Report 0206U for the cultured skin-cell aggregation test. Medicare pays it under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule at one national amount that applies across localities, without an office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $2,215.40, unchanged since 2022. The code is paid only from 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 0206U
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 0206U. 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 0206U: Medicare pays the test only from the CLFS.
0206U on the lab fee schedule since 2020
0206U · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$2,215.40
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2022
Every change on file
- Jan 1, 2022 · CLFS 2022 Q1MAC-priced → $2,215.40
25 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q4. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
0206U compared with similar tests
- 0207UAlzheimer assayPhosphorylated ERK imaging$511.20
- 0206U reports a cultured skin-cell aggregation assay with imaging and protein measurement. 0207U identifies a different quantitative Alzheimer imaging test; use the code matching the laboratory service performed.
0206U billing questions
What specimen is associated with 0206U?
The test uses cultured skin fibroblasts. The laboratory evaluates the cells after treatment with amylospheroids.
How is the result reported?
The laboratory reports the assay result as positive or negative for Alzheimer disease.
What methods are used in the assay?
The laboratory assesses the cultured-cell response with morphometric imaging and measures protein kinase C-epsilon concentration by ELISA.
How does 0206U differ from 0207U?
0206U evaluates cultured skin cells using aggregation-related imaging and protein measurement. 0207U is identified as a quantitative Alzheimer imaging test; select the code that matches the test performed.
How does Medicare pay 0206U?
Medicare pays 0206U under the CLFS using one national amount across localities, with no office-versus-facility 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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 0206U and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist