CPT code 88283: Chromosome banding, specialized technique2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports an additional specialized chromosome-banding technique used during cytogenetic analysis to investigate chromosome features associated with genetic defects.
Medicare pays $68.60 for 88283 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
$68.60
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 88283 covers
This service covers specialized banding techniques applied to chromosomes during cytogenetic analysis, such as nucleolar organizer region or C-banding. The laboratory uses the technique to make particular chromosome regions or features more visible for evaluation in a genetic study. It is reported by a cytogenetics laboratory as an additional procedure in the chromosome-analysis workup, rather than as a chromosome count or a complete karyotype by itself. Clinicians may request specialized banding as part of diagnostic evaluation for suspected chromosomal abnormalities.
Report 88283 when the additional specialized banding technique is performed; the code does not represent a count of cells or probes. It is commonly associated with a chromosome-analysis service, with the underlying analysis and the banding work documented distinctly. Medicare pays the service through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $68.60, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The same amount applies across localities, without an office or 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 88283
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 88283. 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 88283 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88283 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88283 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$68.60
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.
88283 compared with similar tests
- 88280Karyotype studyAdditional study$33.47
- 88280 describes a chromosome karyotype study. Use 88283 for an additional specialized banding technique performed as part of the analysis.
- 88285Chromosome countAdditional cells per study$26.91
- 88285 concerns an additional chromosome count. 88283 identifies specialized banding, not counting additional cells.
- 88271DNA probeEach probe$21.42
- 88271 is for cytogenetic DNA-probe testing. 88283 describes specialized chromosome banding rather than probe analysis.
88283 billing questions
How is 88283 different from a chromosome-analysis code?
88283 represents an additional specialized banding technique. A chromosome-analysis code represents the analysis itself, such as evaluating a specified number of chromosomes or preparing a karyotype.
Can 88283 be reported by itself?
It describes additional banding performed during chromosome analysis, not a complete chromosome analysis on its own. Report the underlying analysis when that service is also performed.
Is 88283 a count of additional cells or probes?
No. It identifies specialized banding, such as C-banding or NOR banding; codes for additional chromosome counts and DNA probes describe different services.
How does Medicare pay for 88283?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national rate across localities, with no office or facility payment difference. It is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
What should the laboratory record support?
The record should identify the specialized banding technique performed and document the associated chromosome-analysis work so the additional service is distinguishable from the analysis itself.
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
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