CPT code 86663: EBV antibody, early antigen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Laboratory assay for antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus early antigen, reported when this specific EBV serology marker is tested.
Medicare pays $13.12 for 86663 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
$13.12
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 86663 covers
This laboratory assay detects antibodies directed against early antigen of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). It identifies one specific EBV antibody target, distinct from nuclear antigen and viral capsid antigen. An EBV serology evaluation may include different antibody targets, and this code is selected according to the target tested. It is not a code for a combined EBV antibody panel.
Report 86663 for the early-antigen antibody assay; report 86664 or 86665 when the respective targets are tested. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $13.12, unchanged since 2020. Medicare pays one national amount per code across localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. Payment is through the CLFS, and the test is excluded from 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 86663
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 86663. 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 86663 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86663 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86663 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$13.12
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.
86663 compared with similar tests
- 86664EBNA antibodyNuclear antigen target$15.29
- Use 86664 when the assay targets EBV nuclear antigen; use 86663 for early antigen.
- 86665VCA antibodyEpstein-Barr virus$18.14
- Use 86665 for EBV viral capsid antigen antibodies; use 86663 for early-antigen antibodies.
- 86308Mono testHeterophile antibody screen$5.18
- Code 86663 identifies EBV early-antigen antibodies; 86308 is for heterophile antibody testing.
86663 billing questions
Which EBV antibody target does 86663 identify?
It identifies antibodies to EBV early antigen. It is distinct from nuclear-antigen and viral-capsid-antigen antibody testing.
When is 86664 reported instead?
Use 86664 when the assay targets EBV nuclear antigen.
When is 86665 reported instead?
Use 86665 when the assay targets EBV viral capsid antigen.
Does 86663 represent an EBV antibody panel?
No. It identifies the early-antigen antibody assay, not a combined set of EBV antibody targets.
How does Medicare pay for 86663?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount per code, regardless of locality or office-versus-facility setting.
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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