CPT code 88143: Pap screening, manual screening and rescreening2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports cervical or vaginal Pap cytology when preservative-fluid material receives thin-layer preparation plus manual screening and rescreening under physician supervision.
Medicare pays $23.04 for 88143 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
$23.04
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 88143 covers
This service is a cervical or vaginal Pap cytology examination of material collected in preservative fluid. The laboratory makes an automated thin-layer preparation and performs manual screening and rescreening under physician supervision. This workflow differs from conventional-smear testing and from thin-layer services using automated screening. Pap cytology evaluates cervical or vaginal cells for abnormalities. The clinical record should support the specimen type and screening method performed.
Report 88143 when the documented service includes thin-layer preparation plus both manual screening and rescreening. Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no office-versus-facility difference; the 2026 amount is $23.04, unchanged since 2020. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute. A separately performed physician interpretation is identified by 88141 when applicable.
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 88143
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 88143. 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 88143 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88143 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88143 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$23.04
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.
88143 compared with similar tests
- 88142Pap testPreservative fluid, manual screening$20.26
- Use 88142 for thin-layer preparation with manual screening alone. Use 88143 when manual rescreening is also performed.
- 88147Pap testAutomated screening$50.56
- 88147 describes automated screening of a thin-layer cervical or vaginal specimen; 88143 describes manual screening and rescreening.
- 88148Pap testAutomated with manual rescreen$18.54
- 88148 describes automated screening with manual rescreening. 88143 describes manual screening and rescreening.
- 88150Pap testManual slide screening$18.54
- 88150 is manual cervical or vaginal cytology using a conventional smear. 88143 involves preservative-fluid collection and thin-layer preparation.
88143 billing questions
How does 88143 differ from 88142?
Both involve thin-layer preparation of cervical or vaginal material collected in preservative fluid. 88143 includes manual screening and rescreening; 88142 describes manual screening without rescreening.
When is 88143 appropriate instead of an automated screening code?
Use 88143 for manual screening and rescreening. 88147 describes automated screening, while 88148 includes automated screening and manual rescreening.
How should units be documented?
Document the specimen and the preparation and screening work performed. Manual screening and rescreening are components of the 88143 service, not separate 88143 services.
Can physician interpretation be reported separately?
88141 identifies physician interpretation as an additional service. Report it with 88143 when the interpretation is performed and documented.
How does Medicare pay 88143?
Medicare pays 88143 through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no office-versus-facility difference. 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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