CPT code 0408U: COVID-19 Antigen Test, bulk Acoustic Wave Biosensor2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
This proprietary laboratory assay reports SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection using a bulk acoustic wave biosensor immunoassay.
Medicare pays $14.13 for 0408U 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
$14.13
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2025
- 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 0408U covers
The assay detects SARS-CoV-2 antigen using a bulk acoustic wave biosensor immunoassay. It is a proprietary laboratory analysis, and the code identifies this specific method. Laboratories report it when this assay is performed to detect SARS-CoV-2. The test identifies viral antigen, not viral genetic material; code selection follows the assay method actually used, rather than the shared SARS-CoV-2 target alone.
Report 0408U for the SARS-CoV-2 antigen assay performed with the bulk acoustic wave biosensor immunoassay method. Medicare pays 0408U under the CLFS at one national amount that applies in every state and locality, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $14.13, unchanged from 2025. The code is paid through the CLFS only and has no physician fee schedule payment.
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 0408U
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 0408U. 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 0408U: Medicare pays the test only from the CLFS.
0408U on the lab fee schedule since 2023
0408U · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$14.13
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2025
Every change on file
- Jan 1, 2025 · CLFS 2025 Q1MAC-priced → $14.13
13 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2023 Q4. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
0408U compared with similar tests
- 87426Coronavirus antigenQualitative or semiquantitative$35.33
- Both are SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests. Choose 0408U for the bulk acoustic wave biosensor immunoassay; 87426 describes a different immunoassay method.
- 87811COVID-19 antigenDirect visual immunoassay$41.38
- 0408U identifies bulk acoustic wave biosensor antigen detection, while 87811 identifies immunoassay with direct optical observation.
- 87635COVID-19 testAmplified nucleic acid detection$51.31
- 0408U detects viral antigen. Use 87635 for a SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test.
0408U billing questions
How does 0408U differ from 87426?
Both detect SARS-CoV-2 antigen, but 0408U identifies the bulk acoustic wave biosensor immunoassay. Use 87426 for the antigen assay described by that code, not simply because the result is also an antigen result.
How does 0408U differ from 87811?
0408U identifies antigen detection by a bulk acoustic wave biosensor. Code 87811 describes antigen testing by immunoassay with direct optical observation.
Can 0408U be used for a molecular SARS-CoV-2 test?
No. 0408U is for antigen detection; 87635 is an example of a SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test.
What documentation supports reporting 0408U?
The laboratory record should identify the SARS-CoV-2 antigen assay performed and its bulk acoustic wave biosensor immunoassay method.
Does Medicare pay separately for physician interpretation under 0408U?
0408U is paid through the CLFS only and has no physician fee schedule payment.
Does the CLFS amount for 0408U vary by location or setting?
No. Medicare uses one national amount for the code across states and localities, with no geographic adjustment or 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
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