CPT code 87150: Amplified probe, culture or isolate2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports genetic identification of an organism from a culture or isolate using an amplified DNA or RNA probe, counted for each organism tested.
Medicare pays $35.09 for 87150 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
$35.09
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 87150 covers
This microbiology test identifies an organism by analyzing its genetic material with an amplified DNA or RNA probe. It is performed on a culture or isolate, rather than describing the culture-growth process itself. Clinical microbiology laboratories commonly use the method after an organism has been recovered and requires identification. The code’s unit is each organism probed from a culture or isolate.
Report 87150 for amplified-probe identification; distinguish it from direct-probe identification and from other typing or sequencing methods. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $35.09 and has been unchanged since 2020. Medicare pays one CLFS amount per code in every state and locality, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is paid through the CLFS and 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 87150
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 87150. 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 87150 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87150 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87150 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$35.09
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.
87150 compared with similar tests
- 87149Organism identificationDirect DNA or RNA probe$20.05
- Both involve DNA or RNA probe identification, but 87150 specifies an amplified-probe technique; 87149 is for direct-probe identification.
- 87153Microbial sequencingIdentification of each isolate$115.36
- 87150 identifies an organism using an amplified probe. Use 87153 when the identification method is nucleic acid sequencing.
- 87140Culture typingImmunofluorescent method$5.57
- 87150 uses an amplified DNA or RNA probe for identification; 87140 uses an immunofluorescence method for culture typing.
87150 billing questions
When should 87150 be selected instead of 87149?
Use 87150 when the organism identification uses an amplified DNA or RNA probe. Code 87149 represents direct-probe identification.
How many units are reported?
The code is reported for each organism probed from a culture or isolate. The number of organisms tested drives the unit count.
Does 87150 report the culture itself?
No. It reports genetic identification of an organism from a culture or isolate, not the culture-growth service. Report the culture separately when performed and separately reportable.
How does Medicare pay for 87150?
Medicare pays 87150 under the CLFS, with one national amount applying across localities and without an office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
When is 87153 more appropriate?
Code 87153 represents organism identification by nucleic acid sequencing. Choose it when sequencing, rather than an amplified probe, is the method performed.
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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