CPT code 87270: Chlamydia antigen, immunofluorescence method2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Laboratory immunofluorescence testing detects Chlamydia trachomatis antigen and is reported when this specific detection method is performed.
Medicare pays $11.98 for 87270 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
$11.98
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 87270 covers
This laboratory service detects Chlamydia trachomatis antigen using immunofluorescence. The code identifies antigen detection by this method, not testing by nucleic acid amplification, culture, or an immunoassay using direct optical observation. A clinical laboratory performs the assay and reports the antigen-detection result. The method distinction is central when selecting among chlamydia test codes: report 87270 when the service performed is immunofluorescent antigen detection, rather than substituting a code for a different testing method.
Medicare pays 87270 only through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS); it is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $11.98 and has remained unchanged since 2020. One national amount applies in every state and locality, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. Report the code for the antigen detection service performed.
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 87270
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 87270. 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 87270 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87270 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87270 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$11.98
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.
87270 compared with similar tests
- 87491Chlamydia testAmplified nucleic acid detection$35.09
- Use 87270 for immunofluorescent antigen detection; 87491 identifies amplified nucleic acid testing for Chlamydia trachomatis.
- 87810Chlamydia testDirect visual immunoassay$35.29
- Both concern chlamydia antigen testing, but 87810 identifies immunoassay with direct optical observation rather than immunofluorescence.
- 87110Chlamydia cultureCulture method$19.60
- 87110 identifies chlamydia culture. Use 87270 when the laboratory performs immunofluorescent antigen detection instead.
87270 billing questions
How does this differ from a chlamydia nucleic acid test?
This code is for antigen detection by immunofluorescence. Code 87491 identifies Chlamydia trachomatis testing by an amplified nucleic acid method.
When would code 87810 be considered instead?
Code 87810 is for chlamydia antigen detection using an immunoassay with direct optical observation. Use the code that matches the method performed.
Is this test paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS; it is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
Does Medicare use a different CLFS amount by locality or setting?
No. The CLFS amount is national and applies across localities, with no office-versus-facility difference.
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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