CPT code 83916: Oligoclonal bands, CSF and serum comparison2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Oligoclonal band testing measures immune substances and is reported for laboratory evaluation of oligoclonal band patterns.
Medicare pays $27.39 for 83916 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
$27.39
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 83916 covers
Laboratories measure oligoclonal immune bands by examining protein patterns, most often in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with a paired serum specimen. The comparison helps determine whether bands are present in CSF but not blood, a pattern used in evaluating multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory or infectious disorders involving the central nervous system. Neurologists and other clinicians commonly request the test during workup of suspected demyelinating or inflammatory neurologic disease. Laboratory methods commonly use electrophoretic separation with immunodetection to identify the bands.
Report 83916 for the oligoclonal band assay, rather than for serum protein electrophoresis alone or a quantitative immunoglobulin measurement; those are distinct services. Medicare pays the test under the CLFS at one national amount that applies across localities and in office and facility settings, without geographic adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $27.39, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The test is paid only under the CLFS, with no separate 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 83916
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 83916. 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 83916 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83916 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83916 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$27.39
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.
83916 compared with similar tests
- 84165Protein electrophoresisSerum fractionation and quantitation$10.74
- Code 84165 reports serum protein electrophoresis, which separates serum protein fractions. Code 83916 is for oligoclonal band testing, commonly comparing CSF and serum immune-protein patterns.
- 82784ImmunoglobulinsIgA, IgD, IgG, or IgM$9.30
- Code 82784 reports quantitative measurement of an immunoglobulin class. Code 83916 identifies oligoclonal band patterns rather than an immunoglobulin concentration.
- 83873CSF myelin proteinMyelin basic protein$17.20
- Code 83873 measures myelin basic protein, a separate CSF marker. Code 83916 is for oligoclonal band testing.
83916 billing questions
Are both CSF and serum used for oligoclonal band testing?
Testing commonly compares a CSF specimen with serum to identify bands restricted to the central nervous system.
Is this the same as serum protein electrophoresis?
No. Oligoclonal band testing evaluates distinct immune-protein patterns, commonly comparing CSF with serum. Serum protein electrophoresis separates serum protein fractions and does not by itself identify CSF-restricted bands.
Is 83916 reported for a quantitative immunoglobulin measurement?
No. Code 83916 is for oligoclonal band testing; quantitative immunoglobulin measurement is a different laboratory service.
Does Medicare pay 83916 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this laboratory test through the CLFS, with no separate physician-fee-schedule payment.
Does the CLFS amount vary by locality or setting?
No. One national CLFS amount applies across localities and in office and facility settings, without geographic adjustment.
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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