CPT code 81287: MGMT methylation, promoter region analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
MGMT promoter methylation analysis evaluates the gene’s promoter region, including in glioblastoma evaluation, and is reported for this targeted laboratory test.
Medicare pays $124.64 for 81287 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
$124.64
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 7 sections
What 81287 covers
81287 reports gene analysis for methylation in the promoter region of MGMT (O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase). The analysis is associated with glioblastoma evaluation and is specific to this gene target, rather than a different gene such as MLH1 or a cytogenomic microarray. This distinction separates the targeted MGMT result from broader genomic testing and other gene assays. Promoter methylation is the feature reported by this service.
Medicare pays 81287 under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) at one national amount that applies across states and localities, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $124.64, unchanged since 2020. The physician fee schedule excludes the test by statute, so Medicare payment is through 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 81287
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 81287. 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 81287 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
81287 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
81287 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$124.64
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.
81287 compared with similar tests
81287 billing questions
What does 81287 analyze?
It analyzes methylation in the promoter region of the MGMT gene, also called O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase.
When is 81287 relevant to glioblastoma evaluation?
The code describes MGMT promoter methylation analysis, which is associated with glioblastoma evaluation.
How is 81287 different from 81288?
81287 analyzes MGMT promoter methylation; 81288 concerns the MLH1 gene.
How does Medicare pay for 81287?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no office-versus-facility difference. The physician fee schedule excludes the test by statute.
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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