CPT code 87652: Group A strep test, quantitative nucleic acid2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
This code reports quantitative nucleic acid testing for group A Streptococcus, distinguishing it from direct-probe or amplified-probe detection services.
Medicare pays $41.76 for 87652 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
$41.76
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 87652 covers
This service measures group A Streptococcus nucleic acid quantitatively. It is distinct from group A strep molecular codes for direct-probe or amplified-probe detection. Report this code when the assay performed quantifies group A Streptococcus nucleic acid; it is not the code for a detection-only result. For detection-only services, 87650 identifies direct-probe testing and 87651 identifies amplified-probe testing.
Medicare pays 87652 through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) at one national amount applicable in every state and locality, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $41.76 and has remained unchanged since 2020. The test is paid only under the CLFS, not 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 87652
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 87652. 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 87652 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87652 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87652 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$41.76
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.
87652 compared with similar tests
- 87650Strep A testDirect nucleic-acid probe$20.05
- 87650 identifies direct-probe detection of group A strep. Use 87652 when the assay quantifies group A strep nucleic acid.
- 87651Strep A testAmplified nucleic acid$35.09
- 87651 identifies amplified-probe detection of group A strep; 87652 identifies quantitative testing.
- 87653Group B strepAmplified nucleic acid$35.09
- 87653 identifies an amplified-probe nucleic acid test for group B Streptococcus. 87652 is for group A Streptococcus.
87652 billing questions
How does this code differ from 87651?
87652 identifies quantitative group A strep nucleic acid testing. 87651 identifies amplified-probe detection.
When would 87650 be used instead?
87650 identifies direct-probe detection of group A strep. Select the code that matches the service performed.
Is this a qualitative positive-or-negative test?
No. This code identifies quantitative testing; detection-only services are represented by codes such as 87650 or 87651.
How does Medicare pay for 87652?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment.
Does 87652 test for group B strep?
No. 87652 is for group A Streptococcus; 87653 identifies an amplified-probe nucleic acid test for group B Streptococcus.
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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