CPT code 86735: Mumps antibody, mumps-specific serology2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Mumps antibody testing measures the immune response to mumps virus and is reported for serologic evaluation of immunity or suspected infection.
Medicare pays $13.05 for 86735 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
$13.05
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 86735 covers
This serologic test analyzes a patient sample for antibodies to mumps virus. It may be ordered when clinicians assess mumps immunity or investigate a possible mumps infection; interpretation depends on the antibody assay and clinical context. Testing is commonly performed by a clinical laboratory or hospital laboratory and is distinct from testing that directly detects the virus.
Report 86735 for the mumps antibody analysis performed. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS only; the 2026 national CLFS amount is $13.05, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The same national amount applies across states and localities, without a geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The physician fee schedule excludes the test, so payment is through the CLFS rather than a 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 86735
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 86735. 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 86735 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
86735 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
86735 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$13.05
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.
86735 compared with similar tests
- 86765Measles antibody$12.88
- Use 86765 for measles antibodies; use 86735 for mumps antibodies. The virus being assessed determines the code.
- 86762Rubella antibody$14.39
- Use 86762 for rubella antibodies. It is a separate serology from the mumps antibody analysis reported with 86735.
- 86710Influenza antibodySerologic testing$13.55
- 86710 reports influenza virus antibody testing, not mumps serology. Select the code for the virus analyzed.
86735 billing questions
How is 86735 different from the measles or rubella antibody codes?
86735 is specific to mumps antibodies. Use the measles or rubella antibody code when the laboratory analyzes antibodies to those respective viruses.
Does this code describe direct detection of mumps virus?
No. It describes antibody analysis, not direct detection of the virus.
Can mumps antibody testing be reported with other MMR serology?
Yes, when separately ordered and performed, mumps antibody testing may be reported with measles or rubella antibody testing for an immunity assessment.
How does Medicare pay for 86735?
Medicare pays 86735 through the CLFS at one national amount that applies across localities and settings. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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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