CPT code 86615: Bordetella antibody, antibody analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Laboratory antibody testing for Bordetella respiratory bacteria, reported when the analysis measures the patient’s antibody response rather than directly detecting the organism.
Medicare pays $13.19 for 86615 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
$13.19
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 86615 covers
Code 86615 identifies a laboratory analysis of antibodies to Bordetella, a group of respiratory bacteria. It measures the patient’s antibody response rather than detecting the bacteria themselves. The result can serve as serologic evidence in the clinical assessment of possible Bordetella infection. Select this code when the laboratory performs antibody analysis directed at Bordetella, rather than an antibody assay for a different infectious agent. A clinical laboratory reports the completed analysis under this code.
Medicare pays 86615 only through the CLFS; it is excluded from the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $13.19, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. One national amount applies across states and localities, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. Report the code for the Bordetella antibody analysis performed.
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 86615
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 86615. 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 86615 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86615 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86615 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$13.19
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.
86615 compared with similar tests
- 86611Bartonella antibody$10.18
- 86611 identifies Bartonella antibody testing. Use 86615 when the antibody target is Bordetella.
- 86617Lyme antibodyConfirmatory assay$15.49
- 86617 is for Lyme disease antibody testing, not Bordetella antibody analysis.
- 86603Adenovirus antibodyAntibody analysis$12.87
- 86603 is for adenovirus antibodies; 86615 is for Bordetella antibodies.
86615 billing questions
What differentiates 86615 from 86611?
86615 is for Bordetella antibodies; 86611 is for Bartonella antibodies. Choose the code that matches the antibody target.
Does 86615 detect Bordetella directly?
No. It measures antibodies to Bordetella rather than detecting the bacteria themselves.
What should the documentation identify?
The documentation should identify the Bordetella antibody analysis performed.
How does Medicare pay for 86615?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS using one national amount across localities, without a geographic or office-versus-facility 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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