CPT code 81529: Melanoma assay, 31-gene mRNA analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A 31-gene mRNA analysis of melanoma tissue estimates recurrence risk and the likelihood of sentinel lymph node metastasis.
Medicare pays $7,193.00 for 81529 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
$7,193.00
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2021
- 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 81529 covers
This test analyzes mRNA expression in a skin melanoma tissue specimen across 31 genes using real-time RT-PCR. It uses formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue and produces an algorithm-based recurrence-risk assessment that includes the likelihood of sentinel lymph node metastasis. The reported result combines gene-expression findings into risk estimates for the melanoma tissue.
Report 81529 for the 31-gene cutaneous melanoma analysis. Medicare pays the test through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS); it is excluded from the physician fee schedule and paid only through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $7,193.00, unchanged from 2021 through 2026. One national amount applies in every state and locality, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference. The code has no separately payable physician interpretation component 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 81529
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 81529. 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 81529 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
81529 on the lab fee schedule since 2021
81529 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$7,193.00
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2021
24 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2021 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
81529 compared with similar tests
- 81518Breast mRNA assay11-gene recurrence profile$3,873.00
- 81518 is an mRNA assay for breast cancer. Choose 81529 for the specified cutaneous melanoma tissue assay.
- 81520Breast tumor profiling58-gene hybrid-capture assay$2,510.21
- 81520 is a breast cancer mRNA assay. Its breast tumor focus distinguishes it from 81529.
- 81540Tumor classifier92-gene mRNA assay$3,750.00
- 81540 is an oncology assay for a tumor of unknown origin. 81529 is specific to cutaneous melanoma tissue.
81529 billing questions
When is 81529 the appropriate oncology assay?
Use it for the 31-gene mRNA analysis of cutaneous melanoma tissue that estimates recurrence risk and sentinel lymph node metastasis likelihood. Breast cancer assays and assays for tumors of unknown origin address different tumor types.
What tissue and method are used for this analysis?
The test analyzes mRNA from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded skin melanoma tissue using real-time RT-PCR.
Does Medicare pay 81529 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS; it is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
Does the CLFS payment vary by location or setting?
No. One national CLFS amount applies across localities, with no office-versus-facility difference.
Is a physician interpretation separately payable with this code?
The test is paid only through the CLFS and has no separately payable physician interpretation component under the physician fee schedule.
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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