CPT code 87149: Organism identification, direct DNA or RNA probe2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Identifies an organism from a culture or isolate using a direct DNA or RNA probe, reported for each organism probed in culture-based microbiology workups.
Medicare pays $20.05 for 87149 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
$20.05
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 87149 covers
87149 reports identification of a cultured organism using a direct DNA or RNA probe. The laboratory applies the probe to a culture or isolate to determine organism identity; reporting is per culture or isolate, for each organism probed. This is a genetic identification method, distinct from the culture service itself.
The reporting basis is each organism probed for each culture or isolate. Medicare pays 87149 through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) only. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $20.05, unchanged since 2020. The amount is the same in every state and locality, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
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 87149
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 87149. 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 87149 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87149 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87149 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$20.05
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.
87149 compared with similar tests
- 87150Amplified probeCulture or isolate$35.09
- 87149 is for direct DNA or RNA probe identification; 87150 is for an amplified probe method.
- 87153Microbial sequencingIdentification of each isolate$115.36
- 87149 uses a direct probe, while 87153 identifies organisms from a culture using nucleic-acid sequencing.
- 87140Culture typingImmunofluorescent method$5.57
- 87140 is culture typing by immunofluorescence. Choose 87149 when the identification method is a direct DNA or RNA probe.
- 87147Culture typingImmunologic method$5.18
- 87147 reports culture typing by an immunologic method; 87149 reports identification by direct nucleic-acid probe.
87149 billing questions
When should 87149 be chosen over 87150?
Use 87149 when organism identification is performed with a direct DNA or RNA probe. Use 87150 when the probe method is amplified.
How is the unit count determined?
Report according to the number of organisms probed for each culture or isolate. The code is not reported as one unit for an entire workup when multiple organisms are probed.
Is 87149 the culture code?
No. It reports direct-probe identification of an organism from a culture or isolate, rather than the culture service itself.
How does Medicare pay 87149?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount that applies across localities and settings. It is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
How does direct-probe identification differ from sequencing?
87149 describes direct DNA or RNA probe identification. Use 87153 when the culture-typing identification method is nucleic-acid sequencing.
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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