CPT code 0479U: p-tau217 test, phosphorylated tau 2172026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
0479U identifies laboratory testing for phosphorylated tau 217, a biomarker used in the evaluation of Alzheimer disease.
Medicare pays $17.27 for 0479U 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
$17.27
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 0479U covers
0479U identifies laboratory testing for phosphorylated tau 217, commonly abbreviated p-tau217. This analyte is used as a biomarker in the evaluation of Alzheimer disease. The result is interpreted alongside the patient’s clinical presentation and other diagnostic information; it is not, by itself, a clinical diagnosis. Report the code when the laboratory test performed is for p-tau217.
Medicare pays 0479U only through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). The 2026 national CLFS amount is $17.27, unchanged from 2025. One national amount applies in every state and locality, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. There is no separate physician fee schedule payment for this code or separately payable physician interpretation under 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 0479U
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 0479U. 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 0479U: Medicare pays the test only from the CLFS.
0479U on the lab fee schedule since 2024
0479U · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$17.27
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2025
Every change on file
- Jan 1, 2025 · CLFS 2025 Q1MAC-priced → $17.27
9 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2024 Q4. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
0479U compared with similar tests
- 0446ULupus cytokine assayTen biomarkers, plasma$840.65
- 0446U identifies testing for a plasma amyloid beta 42/40 ratio; 0479U identifies phosphorylated tau 217 testing. Select according to the biomarker test performed.
- 83520Quantitative immunoassayNot otherwise specified$17.27
- 83520 is a general quantitative immunoassay code, while 0479U specifically identifies p-tau217 testing. The codes describe different levels of test specificity.
0479U billing questions
How does 0479U differ from an amyloid beta test?
0479U identifies testing for phosphorylated tau 217. An amyloid beta 42/40 ratio test measures different biomarkers.
Does 0479U include a separately payable physician interpretation?
No separate physician fee schedule payment is made for 0479U, and the code is paid through the CLFS.
How does Medicare pay for 0479U?
Medicare pays one national CLFS amount across localities, without a geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference.
What test does 0479U identify?
It identifies laboratory testing for phosphorylated tau 217, also called p-tau217.
Does a p-tau217 result establish an Alzheimer disease diagnosis?
No. The result is a biomarker finding for interpretation alongside the patient’s clinical presentation and other diagnostic information.
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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