CPT code 87483: CNS pathogen panel, 12–25 CNS targets2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Multiplex nucleic acid testing of cerebrospinal fluid for 12–25 central nervous system pathogens supports evaluation of suspected meningitis or encephalitis.
Medicare pays $416.78 for 87483 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
$416.78
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 87483 covers
This panel uses multiplex nucleic acid amplification to detect DNA or RNA from 12–25 central nervous system infectious-agent targets, including bacterial, viral, and fungal causes. It is typically ordered on cerebrospinal fluid during evaluation of suspected meningitis or encephalitis, when clinicians need a broad pathogen assessment. Clinical laboratories perform and report the assay for hospitals, emergency departments, and other settings; results identify nucleic acid from panel organisms rather than organism growth or antimicrobial susceptibility.
Report 87483 once for the panel performed, not once for each target. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $416.78, unchanged since 2020; the same amount applies across localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute and is paid only 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 87483
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 87483. 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 87483 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87483 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87483 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$416.78
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.
87483 compared with similar tests
- 87498Enterovirus testAmplified detection$35.09
- 87498 targets enterovirus; 87483 is the multiplex CNS panel for 12–25 pathogen targets.
- 87496CMV testAmplified-probe detection$35.09
- 87496 is a cytomegalovirus amplification assay. Choose 87483 when the service is a broad CNS pathogen panel rather than single-target CMV testing.
- 87529HSV DNA testAmplified probe$35.09
- 87529 is an HSV nucleic acid assay. Code 87483 represents a multiplex CNS panel rather than testing limited to HSV.
- 87633Respiratory panel12–25 targets$416.78
- 87633 is a multiplex respiratory pathogen panel for 12–25 targets. Code 87483 is for a central nervous system pathogen panel.
87483 billing questions
When is 87483 appropriate?
Use it for a multiplex nucleic acid panel assessing 12–25 central nervous system pathogen targets, commonly during evaluation of suspected meningitis or encephalitis.
Should the panel be billed once per organism target?
No. Report the panel once for the assay performed, rather than billing separately for each target included in it.
How does 87483 differ from a single-pathogen test such as 87498?
87483 covers a broad CNS pathogen panel. Code 87498 is for enterovirus testing when testing is directed to that organism.
How does Medicare classify 87483 for payment?
Medicare pays this laboratory 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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