CPT code 87808: Trichomonas test, direct visual immunoassay2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A direct-visual immunoassay detects Trichomonas vaginalis and is reported for antigen testing rather than nucleic acid testing.
Medicare pays $15.29 for 87808 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
$15.29
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
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $15.29
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 87808 covers
Code 87808 identifies an immunoassay that detects Trichomonas vaginalis through direct visual observation of the test result. It is distinct from molecular testing: the reported service is antigen detection by immunoassay, not nucleic acid detection. The code is specific to the organism and method, distinguishing it from direct-visual assays directed at other infectious agents. The CLIA-waived version may be performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver; modifier QW identifies that version.
Medicare pays 87808 only through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $15.29, unchanged from 2020 through 2026; the same amount applies across localities, with no office-versus-facility difference. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute and is paid only from 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 87808
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 87808. 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 87808 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 87808 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $15.29.
87808 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87808 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$15.29
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.
87808 compared with similar tests
- 87810Chlamydia testDirect visual immunoassay$35.29
- Choose 87810 for a direct-visual assay targeting Chlamydia trachomatis; choose 87808 for Trichomonas vaginalis antigen detection.
- 87850Gonorrhea assayDirect visual immunoassay$24.56
- Code 87850 identifies a direct-visual assay targeting Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Code 87808 targets Trichomonas vaginalis.
- 87801Multiplex NAATAmplified probes$70.20
- Code 87801 describes amplification-based detection of multiple agents; 87808 detects Trichomonas by direct-visual immunoassay.
87808 billing questions
When should 87808 be chosen instead of 87810?
Use 87808 for direct-visual immunoassay detection of Trichomonas vaginalis. Code 87810 is for a Chlamydia trachomatis assay.
Does 87808 describe a molecular test?
No. It describes antigen detection by immunoassay with direct visual observation, not nucleic acid testing.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
QW identifies the CLIA-waived version when performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
How does Medicare pay for 87808?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility difference.
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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