CPT code 88174: Pap cytology, automated thin layer2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports automated screening of a preservative-fluid cervical or vaginal Pap specimen prepared as a thin layer to evaluate cellular abnormalities.
Medicare pays $25.37 for 88174 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
$25.37
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 88174 covers
88174 reports cervical or vaginal Pap cytology collected in preservative fluid, prepared as a thin layer, and screened by an automated system. A clinical laboratory performs the cytology screening under physician supervision. The code is distinguished by both the fluid-based thin-layer preparation and automated screening; fluid collection alone does not make a manual screening service reportable as 88174.
Report the code for the automated screening service, rather than a manual screening or rescreening service. When a physician interpretation meets the separate criteria for 88141, that service is reported with 88141. Medicare pays 88174 through the CLFS only. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $25.37, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. One amount applies in every state and locality, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment.
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 88174
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 88174. 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 88174 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88174 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88174 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$25.37
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.
88174 compared with similar tests
- 88175Pap testAutomated with manual rescreening$26.61
- 88174 reports automated screening of the fluid-based thin-layer specimen. Choose 88175 when the service includes manual rescreening in addition to automated screening.
- 88150Pap testManual slide screening$18.54
- 88150 is for manual cervical or vaginal cytology screening. 88174 is the automated screening service for a preservative-fluid thin-layer preparation.
- 88148Pap testAutomated with manual rescreen$18.54
- 88148 represents automated rescreening, while 88174 reports automated screening of the fluid-based thin-layer specimen.
88174 billing questions
When should 88174 be selected instead of 88175?
Use 88174 for automated screening of the preservative-fluid, thin-layer cervical or vaginal specimen. Code 88175 applies when the automated screening service also includes manual rescreening.
How does 88174 differ from manual cervical cytology?
88174 describes automated screening of a fluid-based thin-layer preparation. Select a manual-screening code when the screening method is manual.
Can a physician interpretation be reported separately?
When physician interpretation meets the criteria for 88141, report that service with 88141.
Does Medicare pay 88174 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 88174 only through the CLFS, using one national amount across localities and care settings.
Is 88174 an HPV test?
No. It reports cytologic screening of cervical or vaginal cells, not molecular detection of HPV.
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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