CPT code 87487: Chlamydia pneumoniae, quantitative DNA assay2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A nucleic acid assay quantifies Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA; report 87487 when the performed test provides a quantitative result for this organism.
Medicare pays $42.84 for 87487 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
$42.84
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 87487 covers
87487 reports nucleic acid testing that quantifies Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA. It distinguishes quantitative testing from direct-probe detection (87485) and amplified-probe detection (87486), which identify the same organism using different assay approaches. Code selection follows the organism and method performed: quantitative C. pneumoniae testing is distinct from quantitative C. trachomatis testing reported with 87492. Report 87487 when the performed assay provides quantitative C. pneumoniae DNA results.
Medicare pays 87487 only under the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $42.84; the same amount applied each year from 2020 through 2025. One national amount applies in every state and locality, without geographic adjustment or an office/facility difference. Payment is not through the physician fee schedule.
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 87487
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 87487. 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 87487 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87487 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87487 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$42.84
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.
87487 compared with similar tests
- 87485C. pneumoniae testDirect probe technique$20.05
- Use 87485 for direct-probe detection of C. pneumoniae DNA. Use 87487 when the assay quantifies the DNA.
- 87486C. pneumoniae testAmplified probe$35.09
- 87486 represents amplified-probe detection of C. pneumoniae DNA; 87487 represents quantitative testing.
- 87492Chlamydia testQuantitative nucleic acid$53.47
- 87492 quantifies C. trachomatis DNA, while 87487 quantifies C. pneumoniae DNA. Select according to the organism tested.
87487 billing questions
How does 87487 differ from 87485 and 87486?
87487 is for quantitative C. pneumoniae DNA testing. Codes 87485 and 87486 represent direct-probe and amplified-probe testing, respectively.
When should 87487 be reported?
Report it when the performed nucleic acid assay quantifies C. pneumoniae DNA, rather than merely detecting the organism.
How does 87487 differ from 87492?
87487 quantifies C. pneumoniae DNA. Code 87492 is for quantitative testing of C. trachomatis.
How does Medicare pay 87487?
Medicare pays the code under the CLFS using one national amount across localities, without an office or facility adjustment.
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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 87487 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist