CPT code 88269: Amniotic karyotype, six to 12 colonies2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Amniotic-fluid chromosome analysis evaluates fetal chromosomes for genetic defects, typically during prenatal assessment after amniocentesis.
Medicare pays $173.66 for 88269 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
$173.66
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 88269 covers
This study analyzes amniotic-fluid cells for chromosome abnormalities. The laboratory counts cells from 6–12 colonies to prepare one banded karyotype. Obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists may order the analysis during prenatal evaluation after amniocentesis when chromosome analysis is indicated. Cytogenetics laboratories perform and report the study for prenatal assessment and counseling.
Report 88269 for the amniotic-fluid chromosome analysis, including the specified colony count and one karyotype. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS. The 2026 national amount is $173.66 and has remained unchanged from 2020 through 2026; the same amount applies across states and localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The physician fee schedule excludes the test, so Medicare payment is through the CLFS rather than a separately paid physician interpretation.
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 88269
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 88269. 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 88269 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88269 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88269 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$173.66
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.
88269 compared with similar tests
- 88267Prenatal karyotypeAmniotic fluid or placental tissue$188.57
- 88269 is for amniotic-fluid cells; 88267 is for placental material. Select according to the material analyzed.
- 88264Chromosome analysis20-25 cells$144.61
- 88269 identifies amniotic-fluid analysis counting cells from 6–12 colonies for one banded karyotype. Code 88264 is associated with a 20–25 chromosome count.
- 88271DNA probeEach probe$21.42
- 88269 reports amniotic-fluid chromosome analysis with banding. Code 88271 identifies a cytogenetic DNA-probe study.
88269 billing questions
When should 88269 be selected instead of 88267?
Use 88269 for chromosome analysis of amniotic-fluid cells. Code 88267 identifies chromosome analysis of placental material.
Is 88269 reported per colony or cell?
The analysis counts cells from 6–12 colonies for one karyotype. These are components of the study, not separate cell or colony services.
How does 88269 differ from a DNA-probe study?
88269 describes amniotic-fluid chromosome analysis with banding. Code 88271 identifies cytogenetic analysis using a DNA probe.
Can modifier 26 be used for a physician interpretation?
Medicare pays 88269 only through the CLFS; it is not separately paid under the physician fee schedule as a physician interpretation.
Does Medicare use a local or facility-specific CLFS amount?
No. The CLFS amount is nationally priced and applies across localities without an office-versus-facility adjustment.
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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 88269 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist