CPT code 86480: TB blood test, gamma interferon response2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
An interferon-gamma blood assay measures immune response to tuberculosis antigens and is used to screen for or evaluate tuberculosis infection.
Medicare pays $61.98 for 86480 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
$61.98
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 86480 covers
This assay measures gamma interferon released in response to tuberculosis antigens as an indicator of cell-mediated immune response. It is used to screen for tuberculosis infection or assess a person after exposure or before treatment that raises tuberculosis risk. A positive immune-response result does not, by itself, establish active tuberculosis disease. A clinical laboratory performs the assay using a blood specimen.
Report 86480 for the gamma-interferon tuberculosis assay performed. Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $61.98, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute, so Medicare payment comes 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 86480
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 86480. 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 86480 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86480 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86480 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$61.98
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.
86480 compared with similar tests
- 86481TB cellular assayT-cell enumeration$100.00
- Use 86480 for measurement of the gamma-interferon response. Use 86481 when the assay enumerates gamma-interferon-producing T cells.
- 86580TB skin testIntradermal placement$9.35–$15.59
- 86480 is a laboratory blood assay; 86580 reports intradermal tuberculin skin testing.
86480 billing questions
How does 86480 differ from 86481?
86480 measures the gamma-interferon response to tuberculosis antigens. Code 86481 reports enumeration of gamma-interferon-producing T cells in response to tuberculosis antigens.
When would a provider choose 86480 instead of 86580?
86480 reports a laboratory blood assay. Code 86580 reports intradermal tuberculin skin testing.
What supports selecting 86480?
The record should identify the gamma-interferon tuberculosis assay performed and document the clinical reason for testing.
Does Medicare pay 86480 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 86480 through the CLFS, using one national amount across localities and 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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