CPT code 87110: Chlamydia culture, culture method2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Chlamydia culture detects chlamydial organisms in a submitted specimen and is reported when the laboratory uses culture rather than a nucleic acid test.
Medicare pays $19.60 for 87110 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
$19.60
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 87110 covers
A clinical microbiology laboratory cultures submitted material to detect chlamydial organisms. Genital specimens, such as cervical or urethral samples, are common; conjunctival specimens may also be submitted when ocular infection is suspected. The ordering clinician selects the specimen site based on the suspected infection, and the laboratory performs the culture and reports the result.
Report this code for chlamydia culture itself, rather than nucleic acid probe or antigen detection. The code applies to culture from any source; select it based on the method performed, not solely on the specimen site. Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility payment difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $19.60, unchanged since 2020. Medicare pays the test 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 87110
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 87110. 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 87110 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87110 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87110 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$19.60
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.
87110 compared with similar tests
- 87149Organism identificationDirect DNA or RNA probe$20.05
- 87149 describes direct DNA or RNA probe testing. Use 87110 when the laboratory performs culture.
- 87150Amplified probeCulture or isolate$35.09
- 87150 describes amplified DNA or RNA probe testing. Use 87110 when the laboratory performs chlamydia culture.
- 87491Chlamydia testAmplified nucleic acid detection$35.09
- 87491 is an amplified-probe test specifically for Chlamydia trachomatis; 87110 is selected when the laboratory cultures the specimen.
- 87270Chlamydia antigenImmunofluorescence method$11.98
- 87270 identifies Chlamydia trachomatis by immunofluorescent antigen detection rather than culture.
87110 billing questions
When should this code be used instead of a chlamydia probe code?
Use 87110 when the laboratory performs culture. A direct or amplified nucleic acid probe is reported with the code matching that method, not as a culture.
Does this code describe a specific specimen site?
No. It applies to chlamydia culture from any source, with the specimen site selected according to the suspected infection.
Does this code include specimen collection?
It represents the culture test, not a specimen-collection service.
Which Medicare payment schedule applies?
Medicare pays 87110 through the CLFS, with one national amount across localities and no office-versus-facility payment 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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