CPT code 87076: Anaerobic identification, each isolate2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports additional laboratory methods to definitively identify an anaerobic bacterial isolate, with one unit for each isolate requiring this work.
Medicare pays $8.08 for 87076 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
$8.08
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 87076 covers
87076 reports additional laboratory methods to establish a definitive identification for an anaerobic bacterial isolate. It is distinct from the culture service that recovers organisms from a specimen: the unit is tied to the isolate receiving additional identification work. The service is used when an anaerobic isolate requires further identification beyond the culture service.
Report one unit for each anaerobic isolate requiring additional identification. 87076 may be reported with 87075, the bacterial culture service for sources other than blood, when an isolate needs this further identification. Medicare pays the code through the CLFS only. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $8.08, unchanged from 2020 through 2026, and the same amount applies in every locality without an office or facility difference.
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 87076
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 87076. 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 87076 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87076 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87076 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$8.08
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.
87076 compared with similar tests
- 87075Anaerobic cultureNonblood source$9.47
- 87075 represents bacterial culture for sources other than blood; 87076 reports additional methods to definitively identify an anaerobic isolate.
- 87073Anaerobic cultureQuantitative, other specimen sources$9.66
- 87073 describes anaerobic bacterial culture. 87076 identifies an anaerobic isolate when additional methods are needed for definitive identification.
- 87077Aerobic identificationDefinitive identification, each isolate$8.08
- 87077 is the related aerobic isolate-identification service; 87076 is for an anaerobic isolate.
87076 billing questions
When should 87076 be reported instead of 87075?
87075 represents the bacterial culture service for sources other than blood. Report 87076 for additional methods needed to definitively identify an anaerobic isolate.
How many units are reported?
Report one unit for each anaerobic isolate requiring the additional identification methods.
Can 87076 be reported with 87075?
Yes. Report 87076 with 87075 when the culture yields an anaerobic isolate requiring additional methods for definitive identification.
How does 87076 differ from 87073?
87073 describes anaerobic bacterial culture. 87076 identifies an anaerobic isolate using additional methods.
How does Medicare pay for 87076?
Medicare pays 87076 through the CLFS, with one national amount applying across localities and without an office or facility difference.
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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