CPT code 87653: Group B strep, amplified nucleic acid2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Amplified nucleic acid testing detects group B Streptococcus, commonly on a vaginal-rectal specimen collected for prenatal colonization screening.
Medicare pays $35.09 for 87653 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
$35.09
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 87653 covers
87653 reports an amplified nucleic acid test for Streptococcus group B. In obstetric care, clinicians commonly use it to assess maternal GBS colonization during prenatal screening, using a vaginal-rectal swab. Clinical laboratories perform the assay. The molecular method distinguishes this test from culture-based screening and from nucleic acid tests aimed at group A Streptococcus; select the code according to the organism tested and the assay method.
Report 87653 for amplified detection of group B Streptococcus. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS, at one national rate across states and localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $35.09, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
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 87653
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 87653. 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 87653 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87653 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87653 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$35.09
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.
87653 compared with similar tests
- 87651Strep A testAmplified nucleic acid$35.09
- 87651 detects group A Streptococcus by amplification; 87653 detects group B Streptococcus.
- 87650Strep A testDirect nucleic-acid probe$20.05
- 87650 detects group A Streptococcus using a direct-probe method. Use 87653 for amplified detection of group B Streptococcus.
- 87081Culture screenScreening only$6.63
- 87081 is a culture-based presumptive screening service. 87653 represents amplified nucleic acid detection of group B Streptococcus.
87653 billing questions
Which specimen is commonly tested with 87653?
For prenatal GBS colonization screening, the common specimen is a vaginal-rectal swab. The code identifies amplified group B Streptococcus detection.
How is 87653 different from the group A strep codes?
87653 detects group B Streptococcus. Codes 87650 and 87651 detect group A Streptococcus, using direct-probe and amplified methods, respectively.
Can a culture service be reported as 87653?
No. 87653 describes amplified nucleic acid detection; culture-based screening may be reported with an appropriate culture code, such as 87081.
How does Medicare pay for 87653?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount, without geographic or office-versus-facility variation. 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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