CPT code 87206: Microbial smear, fluorescent or acid-fast2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports microscopic examination of a primary-source smear with fluorescent and/or acid-fast staining to identify microorganisms or cell types.
Medicare pays $5.39 for 87206 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
$5.39
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 87206 covers
Code 87206 identifies microscopic review of a smear prepared from a primary-source specimen and stained with a fluorescent method, an acid-fast method, or both. The stain-based examination can be directed at bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, or cell types. The laboratory reports the interpreted smear examination. Clinical laboratories perform this service on submitted primary-source material. Interpretation accompanies the laboratory's smear result.
Report 87206 for the stained smear examination, with interpretation included. Medicare pays 87206 through the CLFS, with one national amount applying across localities and no office or facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.39, unchanged since 2020. The test is paid only from the CLFS and is excluded from physician fee schedule payment.
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 87206
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 87206. 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 87206 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87206 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87206 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.39
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.
87206 compared with similar tests
- 87205Gram stainPrimary-source smear$4.27
- Use 87205 for a Gram-stained smear. Use 87206 when the smear uses a fluorescent and/or acid-fast stain.
- 87207Special stainInclusion bodies or parasites$5.99
- 87207 reports a special-stain smear; 87206 is specific to fluorescent and/or acid-fast staining.
- 87220KOH examinationSkin, hair, or nail specimens$4.27
- 87220 is for a tissue examination for fungi. 87206 reports a fluorescent and/or acid-fast stained smear.
87206 billing questions
When should 87206 be reported instead of a Gram stain?
Use 87206 when the smear is examined with a fluorescent and/or acid-fast stain. A Gram-stained smear is reported with 87205.
Does 87206 include microscopic interpretation?
Yes. Interpretation is included in the stained-smear examination.
How does Medicare pay 87206?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office/facility adjustment. It is paid only from the CLFS.
How does 87206 differ from a culture or antigen assay?
87206 reports microscopic examination of a stained smear, rather than organism growth in culture or antigen detection.
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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