CPT code 0666U: Wound PCR panel, wound-swab real-time PCR2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Multiplex real-time PCR of a wound swab detects microbial and antibiotic-resistance targets when clinicians evaluate a suspected wound infection.
Medicare has no national amount for 0666U: it’s on the 2026 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule as contractor-priced, so each Medicare Administrative Contractor sets the payment.
Medicare lab fee · CLFS 2026 Q4
Contractor-priced (CLFS indicator L)
Set by your MAC
CMS lists 0666U on the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule without a national amount: each Medicare Administrative Contractor prices it for its jurisdiction.
- National amount
- None
- Priced by
- Each MAC
- Fee schedule
- Clinical lab
- CMS updates
- Quarterly
The contractor that processes the claim sets the amount for its jurisdiction. Patients usually owe no Part B deductible or coinsurance for covered clinical lab tests.
On this page 7 sections
What 0666U covers
Clinical microbiology laboratories perform this molecular analysis for providers evaluating suspected wound infection. The wound-swab assay uses multiplex real-time PCR to detect 27 microbial targets and 28 antibiotic-resistance targets. Bacterial and fungal targets are reported semiquantitatively, while viral and antibiotic-resistance targets are reported qualitatively. The broad target set supports molecular assessment of wound infection.
Report 0666U for the wound-swab assay. Medicare pays it through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS); the code was added effective October 1, 2026, and is locally priced, with each Medicare Administrative Contractor setting payment. The code is paid only through the CLFS 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 0666U
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.
Priced by each contractor
0666U carries CLFS indicator L: CMS publishes no national amount, and each Medicare Administrative Contractor sets the payment for its jurisdiction. Ask your MAC for its current amount.
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 0666U: Medicare pays the test only from the CLFS.
0666U compared with similar tests
- 87640S. aureus assayAmplified detection$35.09
- 87640 is targeted to Staphylococcus aureus. 0666U is a multiplex real-time PCR assay of a wound swab with multiple microbial and resistance targets.
- 87641MRSA testAmplified nucleic acid$35.09
- 87641 targets MRSA, while 0666U assesses a broader set of wound-infection microbial and antibiotic-resistance targets.
- 0669UBlood pathogen panelThree genera, digital PCRNo national amount
- 0669U is another infectious-disease multiplex assay using digital PCR. 0666U uses real-time PCR on a wound swab.
0666U billing questions
What specimen does 0666U describe?
The assay uses a wound swab.
How does 0666U differ from targeted Staphylococcus aureus testing?
0666U is a multiplex wound-swab assay covering multiple microbial and resistance targets. Code 87640 describes targeted Staphylococcus aureus testing.
How does 0666U differ from MRSA testing?
0666U assesses multiple wound-infection microbial and antibiotic-resistance targets, while code 87641 targets MRSA.
How are bacterial and fungal targets reported?
Bacterial and fungal targets are reported semiquantitatively. Viral and antibiotic-resistance targets are reported qualitatively.
How does Medicare pay 0666U?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS. The code is locally priced, and each Medicare Administrative Contractor sets the payment.
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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