CPT code 87154: Blood pathogen test, amplified probe, six-plus targets2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Multiplex amplified-probe testing identifies a pathogen in a blood-culture specimen and includes resistance typing when performed.
Medicare pays $218.06 for 87154 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
$218.06
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2022
- 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 87154 covers
This laboratory service uses multiplex amplified DNA or RNA probes to identify a disease-causing organism in a blood-culture specimen. The assay covers six or more targets; resistance typing is included when performed. The analysis is performed on a blood-culture specimen or isolate to identify a blood pathogen.
Report 87154 per culture or isolate tested when the service uses the specified multiplex amplified-probe approach and target range. Medicare pays the test through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS); it is excluded from the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $218.06, unchanged from 2022 through 2026. The CLFS amount is the same across localities, with no geographic or office/facility adjustment.
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 87154
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 87154. 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 87154 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87154 on the lab fee schedule since 2022
87154 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$218.06
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2022
20 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2022 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
87154 compared with similar tests
- 87150Amplified probeCulture or isolate$35.09
- Both involve amplified nucleic-acid probes. 87154 specifically covers multiplex testing of a blood-culture pathogen with six or more targets; 87150 is another amplified-probe code.
- 87149Organism identificationDirect DNA or RNA probe$20.05
- 87149 describes direct-probe testing, while 87154 is for multiplex amplified-probe testing of a blood-culture pathogen with six or more targets.
- 87153Microbial sequencingIdentification of each isolate$115.36
- 87153 is the sequencing-method neighbor. 87154 applies when the laboratory uses the multiplex amplified-probe method for a blood-culture pathogen with six or more targets.
87154 billing questions
When should a laboratory report 87154 rather than 87150?
87154 is for multiplex amplified-probe testing of a blood-culture pathogen with six or more targets. 87150 is another amplified-probe code; select the code that matches the service performed.
Does 87154 include resistance typing?
Resistance typing is included when performed as part of the reported testing. The code also applies when the service identifies the blood pathogen without resistance typing.
How many units should be reported?
The service is reported per culture or isolate tested. Base the unit count on the number of cultures or isolates analyzed, not the number of targets in the panel.
How does Medicare pay 87154?
Medicare pays 87154 through the CLFS at one national amount that applies across localities and in office and facility 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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