CPT code 87912: Hepatitis B genotyping, nucleic acid analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Hepatitis B virus genotype analysis identifies the viral genotype from nucleic acid, supporting selected clinical decisions in patients with HBV infection.
Medicare pays $257.45 for 87912 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
$257.45
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 87912 covers
This molecular test analyzes hepatitis B virus nucleic acid to identify the virus’s genotype. It is ordered selectively for patients with HBV infection when genotype information may help inform clinical management or treatment planning. Hepatology, infectious disease, and other treating clinicians may order the test; a molecular diagnostic laboratory performs and reports the analysis on a patient specimen containing HBV nucleic acid.
Report 87912 for the HBV genotype analysis, not for measuring the amount of HBV in a specimen or assessing drug susceptibility. Medicare pays the test through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), with one national amount per code and no geographic, office, or facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $257.45, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. 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 87912
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 87912. 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 87912 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
87912 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
87912 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$257.45
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.
87912 compared with similar tests
- 87902Hepatitis C genotypeNucleic acid analysis$257.45
- Both codes report nucleic-acid genotype analysis, but 87912 is for hepatitis B virus and 87902 is for hepatitis C virus.
- 87900Drug susceptibilityGenotype-based bioinformatics prediction$130.35
- 87912 identifies the HBV genotype through nucleic acid analysis; 87900 represents phenotypic infectious-agent drug analysis.
- 87517HBV viral loadQuantitative DNA test$42.84
- Use 87912 to identify HBV genotype. Code 87517 reports quantitative HBV DNA testing, which measures viral nucleic acid rather than genotype.
87912 billing questions
How is HBV genotyping different from an HBV viral-load test?
Genotyping identifies the hepatitis B virus genotype. An HBV DNA quantitative test measures the amount of viral nucleic acid.
When should 87912 be reported instead of 87902?
Use 87912 for hepatitis B virus genotype analysis. Code 87902 is for hepatitis C virus genotype analysis.
Does 87912 report drug susceptibility?
No. This code represents HBV genotype analysis; a phenotypic drug-susceptibility analysis is a different service.
What documentation supports reporting 87912?
Keep the test order and laboratory report identifying the analysis as hepatitis B virus genotyping. A viral-load result alone does not support this code.
How does Medicare pay for 87912?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount per code, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. It is paid only under the CLFS.
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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