CPT code 86481: TB cellular assay, T-cell enumeration2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports enumeration of tuberculosis-antigen-responsive T cells in a cell suspension as part of laboratory testing for tuberculosis.
Medicare pays $100.00 for 86481 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
$100.00
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 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 86481 covers
This laboratory assay measures the cellular immune response to tuberculosis antigens by enumerating interferon-gamma-producing T cells in a cell suspension. The method counts responsive cells, distinguishing it from a broader antigen-response measurement. Clinical laboratories perform the assay and report results to ordering clinicians during tuberculosis testing.
Report 86481 when the test performed uses T-cell enumeration; use 86480 for the other tuberculosis cellular-immunity antigen-response measurement. Medicare pays 86481 under the CLFS at one nationally set amount, applicable in every state and locality, without geographic or office/facility adjustment. The 2026 national amount is $100.00, unchanged since 2020. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule and paid only 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 86481
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 86481. 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 86481 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86481 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86481 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$100.00
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.
86481 compared with similar tests
- 86480TB blood testGamma interferon response$61.98
- Use 86481 when the method enumerates tuberculosis-antigen-responsive T cells in a cell suspension. Code 86480 represents a different cellular-immunity antigen-response measurement.
- 86580TB skin testIntradermal placement$9.35–$15.59
- Code 86580 reports a tuberculin skin test, an in-vivo procedure. Code 86481 reports a laboratory measurement of tuberculosis-antigen-responsive T cells.
86481 billing questions
How does 86481 differ from 86480?
86481 identifies enumeration of tuberculosis-antigen-responsive T cells in a cell suspension. Code 86480 represents a different tuberculosis cellular-immunity antigen-response measurement.
When should 86481 be selected?
Select 86481 when the test performed enumerates tuberculosis-antigen-responsive T cells in a cell suspension. Select 86480 for the other cellular-immunity antigen-response measurement.
Does Medicare payment vary by locality or setting?
No. Medicare pays one national CLFS amount in every state and locality, without an office or facility adjustment.
Can a physician interpretation be billed separately under the physician fee schedule?
86481 is excluded from the physician fee schedule and is paid only through the CLFS.
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
Fee sheets
Put 86481 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Build my fee sheet