CPT code 87273: HSV-2 antigen, immunofluorescence method2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Immunofluorescence testing detects herpes simplex virus type 2 antigen and is reported when that specific antigen assay is performed.
Medicare pays $11.98 for 87273 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 87273 covers
Code 87273 identifies immunofluorescent detection of herpes simplex virus type 2 antigen. Clinical laboratories perform this test and report its result as HSV-2 antigen detection by immunofluorescence. The assay differs from HSV-1 antigen testing reported with 87274. Unlike viral isolation, it detects antigen; it is also distinct from HSV nucleic acid testing.
Report code 87273 when the performed test detects HSV-2 antigen by immunofluorescence. Do not use it for HSV-1 antigen testing (87274), HSV isolation (87255), or HSV nucleic acid testing (87529); those codes identify a different target or method. Medicare pays 87273 through the CLFS at one national amount across states and localities, with no geographic or office/facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $11.98, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute and is paid 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 87273
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 87273. 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 87273 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87273 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87273 · 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.
87273 compared with similar tests
- 87274HSV-1 antigenImmunofluorescent detection$11.98
- Use 87273 for HSV-2 antigen and 87274 for HSV-1 antigen; both use immunofluorescence.
- 87255HSV isolationCulture with identification$33.86
- Code 87255 reports HSV isolation. Code 87273 reports immunofluorescent detection of HSV-2 antigen.
- 87529HSV DNA testAmplified probe$35.09
- Code 87529 reports HSV nucleic acid testing, while 87273 detects HSV-2 antigen by immunofluorescence.
87273 billing questions
How does this differ from the HSV-1 antigen code?
Code 87273 identifies HSV-2 antigen by immunofluorescence. Use 87274 for the corresponding HSV-1 antigen test.
When would a laboratory use HSV isolation instead?
Code 87255 reports HSV isolation rather than immunofluorescent antigen detection. Select the code that matches the method performed.
How does this differ from HSV nucleic acid testing?
Code 87273 reports antigen detection by immunofluorescence. Code 87529 is used for HSV nucleic acid testing.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays code 87273 through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, without an office/facility adjustment. The test 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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