CPT code 81015: Urine microscopy, microscopy only2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports a urine examination performed by microscopy alone, rather than a complete urinalysis with microscopy or urinalysis without microscopy.
Medicare pays $3.05 for 81015 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
$3.05
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2020
- 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 81015 covers
Code 81015 identifies a urine examination performed by microscopy alone. A laboratory examines the urine microscopically, without representing a broader urinalysis that combines microscopy with other urinalysis testing. It is distinct from codes for urinalysis performed with or without microscopy and from manual or automated complete urinalysis services.
Report 81015 when the performed service is limited to urine microscopy; when a complete urinalysis with microscopy is performed, select the code matching the manual or automated method. Medicare pays 81015 only through the CLFS, at one national amount across localities and without an office or facility payment difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $3.05, unchanged since 2020. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule and 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 81015
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 81015. 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.
Excluded from the physician fee schedule
The physician fee schedule lists 81015 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
81015 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
81015 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$3.05
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2020
27 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
81015 compared with similar tests
- 81000UrinalysisManual, with microscopy$4.02
- 81000 describes a manual urinalysis that includes microscopy. Use 81015 when microscopy alone is performed.
- 81001UrinalysisAutomated with microscopy$3.17
- 81001 describes an automated urinalysis with microscopy. It is not the microscopy-only service represented by 81015.
- 81002UrinalysisManual, no microscopy$3.48
- 81002 describes manual urinalysis without microscopy. Choose 81015 for microscopic examination alone.
- 81003UrinalysisAutomated, without microscopy$2.25
- 81003 describes automated urinalysis without microscopy. Choose 81015 when the service is limited to urine microscopy.
81015 billing questions
When should 81015 be selected instead of a complete urinalysis code?
Use 81015 when the reported service is microscopic examination of urine alone. When chemical testing is also performed, choose the complete urinalysis code that matches the testing method.
Can 81015 be reported for urinalysis without microscopy?
No. Codes 81002 and 81003 describe urinalysis without microscopy, with the choice depending on whether the method is manual or automated.
What should the laboratory documentation support?
Document that a microscopic examination of urine was performed and that the reported service was microscopy rather than a complete urinalysis with microscopy.
How does Medicare pay 81015?
Medicare pays 81015 through the CLFS at one national amount. The payment is the same across localities and does not vary between office and facility settings.
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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