CPT code 88148: Pap test, automated with manual rescreen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Cervical or vaginal Pap smears screened by an automated system and manually rescreened under physician supervision are reported with this code.
Medicare pays $18.54 for 88148 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
$18.54
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
- +15.9%
- 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 88148 covers
This service covers cytologic screening of a cervical or vaginal Pap smear using an automated system followed by manual rescreening under physician supervision. The reported workflow includes both screening stages; it is distinct from automated screening without manual rescreening, manual-only screening, and thin-layer cervical or vaginal cytology. Cytology laboratories report the service for cervical or vaginal specimens processed through this method.
Report the service for the automated-and-manual-rescreening workflow. Medicare pays 88148 only through the CLFS, at one national amount across states and localities, with no office or facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $18.54, up from $16.00 in 2020. The physician fee schedule excludes the test by statute; payment is through 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 88148
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 88148. 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 88148 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88148 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88148 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$18.54
Up 15.9% from $16.00 in 2020
Every change on file
- Jan 1, 2026 · CLFS 2026 Q1$18.19 → $18.54 (+1.9%)
- Jan 1, 2025 · CLFS 2025 Q1$17.76 → $18.19 (+2.4%)
- Jan 1, 2024 · CLFS 2024 Q1$17.31 → $17.76 (+2.6%)
- Jan 1, 2023 · CLFS 2023 Q1$16.00 → $17.31 (+8.2%)
27 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
88148 compared with similar tests
- 88147Pap testAutomated screening$50.56
- 88147 describes automated cervical or vaginal smear screening without the manual rescreening specified for 88148.
- 88150Pap testManual slide screening$18.54
- 88150 is for manual screening. Choose 88148 when the smear is screened by an automated system and then manually rescreened.
- 88142Pap testPreservative fluid, manual screening$20.26
- 88142 identifies cervical or vaginal cytology using thin-layer preparation. 88148 identifies automated screening with manual rescreening, not the thin-layer preparation service.
88148 billing questions
When should a laboratory report 88148 instead of 88147?
Report 88148 when the cervical or vaginal smear receives automated screening followed by manual rescreening under physician supervision. Use 88147 for automated screening without that manual-rescreening workflow.
How does 88148 differ from manual Pap screening?
88148 identifies automated screening with manual rescreening. A manual-only screening workflow is represented by 88150.
Does 88148 include both screening stages?
Yes. The service includes automated screening followed by manual rescreening under physician supervision.
Can 88141 be reported with 88148?
88141 reports physician interpretation of cervical or vaginal cytopathology. It is reported in addition to the screening service when that interpretation is performed.
How does Medicare pay 88148?
Medicare pays 88148 through the CLFS at a single national amount that applies across localities and settings. The physician fee schedule excludes the test 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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