CPT code 87269: Giardia antigen, immunofluorescent detection2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Immunofluorescence testing detects Giardia antigen in stool during evaluation of suspected intestinal giardiasis, including compatible diarrheal illness.
Medicare pays $13.61 for 87269 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
$13.61
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 87269 covers
Code 87269 identifies a stool assay that uses immunofluorescence to detect Giardia antigen. It is used in evaluating suspected intestinal giardiasis, including compatible diarrheal illness, and is performed and reported by clinical laboratories on stool specimens. Unlike a general ova-and-parasite examination, it targets Giardia antigen rather than surveying stool broadly.
Report code 87269 for the Giardia immunofluorescent antigen assay performed, rather than a general parasite examination or another organism’s antigen test. Medicare pays the code through the CLFS at one national amount across states and localities, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national amount is $13.61, unchanged since 2020. The physician fee schedule excludes this test by statute, so Medicare payment is 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 87269
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 87269. 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 87269 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87269 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87269 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$13.61
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.
87269 compared with similar tests
- 87329Giardia antigenImmunoassay detection$11.98
- Both target Giardia antigen, but 87329 uses an immunoassay method. Use 87269 when the test performed uses immunofluorescence.
- 87272Cryptosporidium testImmunofluorescent antigen detection$11.98
- This immunofluorescence antigen test targets Cryptosporidium, not Giardia.
- 87177Ova and parasitesSmear and concentration$8.90
- This code describes a broader stool ova-and-parasite examination; 87269 identifies a Giardia-specific antigen assay.
87269 billing questions
When should 87269 be selected instead of 87272?
Use 87269 when the immunofluorescence assay detects Giardia antigen. Code 87272 identifies the corresponding test for Cryptosporidium.
What specimen is tested with 87269?
The assay tests stool for Giardia antigen.
How does 87269 differ from a stool ova-and-parasite examination?
Code 87269 is a Giardia-specific antigen test using immunofluorescence. An ova-and-parasite examination evaluates stool for parasites using a broader examination.
How does 87269 differ from 87329?
Both codes identify Giardia antigen testing, but 87269 uses immunofluorescence and 87329 uses an immunoassay method.
Does Medicare pay 87269 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS; it is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
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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