CPT code 87482: Candida DNA, quantitative measurement2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Quantitative Candida species DNA testing is reported when the laboratory assay measures Candida DNA rather than identifying its presence alone.
Medicare pays $55.74 for 87482 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
$55.74
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 87482 covers
This laboratory molecular assay measures Candida species DNA quantitatively. It distinguishes this service from Candida DNA testing reported as direct-probe detection (87480) or amplification-probe detection (87481). The laboratory report and coding should reflect that the assay provides a quantitative result, rather than only detection. Clinical laboratories report the service when they perform this quantitative analysis.
Medicare pays 87482 through the CLFS at one national amount in every state and locality, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $55.74, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. Payment is only through the CLFS; the test is excluded from the physician fee schedule. Report the Candida assay code that matches the method and whether the result is quantitative.
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 87482
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 87482. 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 87482 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87482 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87482 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$55.74
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.
87482 compared with similar tests
- 87480Candida probeDirect probe$20.05
- 87482 is for quantitative Candida DNA testing. Code 87480 describes Candida DNA detection by direct probe.
- 87481Candida DNA testAmplified probe$35.09
- 87482 reports quantitative Candida DNA testing; 87481 describes Candida DNA detection by an amplification-probe method.
- 87102Fungal cultureOther source, not blood$8.41
- Code 87102 is for fungal culture, rather than molecular quantification of Candida DNA.
87482 billing questions
How does this differ from the Candida amplification test?
Use 87482 when the Candida DNA assay provides a quantitative result. Code 87481 describes Candida DNA detection by an amplification-probe method.
When would the direct-probe Candida code be used?
Code 87480 describes Candida DNA detection by direct probe. Choose the code that matches the test performed and whether it reports quantification.
Does this code represent detection or quantification?
It represents quantitative Candida DNA testing. Codes 87480 and 87481 describe direct-probe and amplification-probe detection, respectively.
What should the laboratory documentation support?
Documentation should identify the Candida molecular test performed and support that it produced a quantitative result. The reported code should match the test.
How does Medicare pay this test?
Medicare pays 87482 through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, without an office-versus-facility difference. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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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