CPT code 87271: CMV antigen, direct fluorescent antibody2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
This test detects cytomegalovirus antigen in a patient specimen by direct immunofluorescence and is reported for CMV antigen testing.
Medicare pays $13.42 for 87271 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
$13.42
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 87271 covers
The assay detects CMV antigen in a submitted patient specimen using direct immunofluorescence (DFA). It may be ordered when clinicians evaluate suspected CMV infection, including in transplant recipients and other immunocompromised patients. The laboratory reports this test when it performs CMV antigen detection by this method. Unlike viral culture, which seeks viral isolation, this assay detects antigen; it is also distinct from nucleic acid testing, which detects viral genetic material. Code selection follows the organism and method: CMV antigen by DFA, rather than another CMV test method or another organism.
Medicare pays 87271 only through the CLFS, at one nationally set amount per code in every state and locality. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $13.42, unchanged from 2020 through 2025. Payment has no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
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 87271
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 87271. 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 87271 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87271 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87271 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$13.42
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.
87271 compared with similar tests
- 87497CMV viral loadQuantitative nucleic acid test$42.84
- 87271 detects CMV antigen by direct fluorescent antibody testing; 87497 detects CMV using an amplified nucleic acid probe.
- 87273HSV-2 antigenImmunofluorescence method$11.98
- Use 87273 for herpes simplex virus type 2 antigen testing by fluorescent antibody, not for CMV.
- 87274HSV-1 antigenImmunofluorescent detection$11.98
- Use 87274 for herpes simplex virus type 1 antigen testing by fluorescent antibody, not for CMV.
87271 billing questions
When should 87271 be selected instead of a CMV nucleic acid test?
Use 87271 for direct fluorescent antibody detection of CMV antigen. Select a different code when the laboratory performs CMV nucleic acid testing.
Does 87271 include CMV viral culture?
No. This code identifies CMV antigen testing by direct fluorescent antibody, not viral isolation by culture.
Does 87271 detect CMV antigen or antibody?
It detects CMV antigen using direct immunofluorescence.
How does Medicare pay for 87271?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment.
How does 87271 differ from codes 87273 and 87274?
87271 detects CMV antigen. Codes 87273 and 87274 detect herpes simplex virus type 2 and type 1 antigen, respectively.
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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