CPT code 88150: Pap test, manual slide screening2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Manual microscopic screening of cervical or vaginal cytology slides is reported for Pap testing to assess cellular changes associated with cervical disease.
Medicare pays $18.54 for 88150 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
- +22.6%
- 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 88150 covers
This service is the manual microscopic screening of prepared cervical or vaginal cytology slides, commonly collected during a pelvic examination for cervical cancer screening or evaluation of cellular abnormalities. Cytotechnologists in cytopathology laboratories perform the slide review under physician supervision. The code describes screening of the slides, rather than collection of the specimen; it is distinguished from services using thin-layer preparation or automated screening.
Report 88150 for the manual screening service on cervical or vaginal slides. When a physician provides an additional interpretation, 88141 may be reported with the screening code when its requirements are met. Medicare pays 88150 only through the CLFS, at one national amount across states and localities, with no office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $18.54, continuing an annual increase from 2020 through 2026. The code 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 88150
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 88150. 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 88150 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88150 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88150 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$18.54
Up 22.6% from $15.12 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$15.92 → $17.31 (+8.7%)
- Jan 1, 2022 · CLFS 2022 Q1$15.15 → $15.92 (+5.1%)
- Jan 1, 2021 · CLFS 2021 Q1$15.12 → $15.15 (+0.2%)
27 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
88150 compared with similar tests
- 88142Pap testPreservative fluid, manual screening$20.26
- 88150 is for manual screening of cervical or vaginal slides. 88142 involves thin-layer preparation followed by manual screening.
- 88147Pap testAutomated screening$50.56
- 88150 describes manual slide screening; 88147 is for automated screening of cervical or vaginal slides.
- 88164Pap screeningManual, Bethesda system$18.54
- 88164 identifies manual cervical or vaginal slide screening using Bethesda System reporting; 88150 is the manual screening code without that reporting-system distinction.
- 88141Pap interpretationPhysician interpretation and report$21.72–$31.60
- 88150 is the slide-screening service. 88141 represents additional physician interpretation when that service is required and provided.
88150 billing questions
When should 88150 be selected instead of 88142?
Use 88150 for manual screening of cervical or vaginal slides. Code 88142 describes cervical or vaginal testing using thin-layer preparation with manual screening.
How does 88150 differ from 88147?
88150 represents manual screening. 88147 is used when cervical or vaginal slides are screened using an automated method.
Can physician interpretation be reported separately?
88141 may be reported in addition to the screening service when a physician interpretation is required and provided.
How does Medicare pay 88150?
Medicare pays the code through the CLFS using one national amount across localities, without an office or 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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