CPT code 88289: Chromosome study, high-resolution add-on2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Additional high-resolution chromosome analysis for genetic-defect evaluation is reported with the applicable primary chromosome-analysis service when that added study is performed.
Medicare pays $34.43 for 88289 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
$34.43
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 88289 covers
88289 identifies additional high-resolution chromosome analysis used in evaluating genetic defects. It represents work added to a primary chromosome-analysis service, rather than the underlying analysis itself. The code describes the high-resolution study. It is distinct from 88285, which identifies an additional chromosome count; it also differs from primary chromosome-analysis codes selected by the applicable count or specimen category. Report the applicable primary chromosome-analysis code for the underlying study and 88289 for the additional high-resolution work.
Medicare pays 88289 through the CLFS at one national amount per code across all states and localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $34.43, unchanged since 2020. The service is paid through the CLFS only and is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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 88289
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 88289. 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 88289 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
88289 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
88289 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$34.43
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.
88289 compared with similar tests
- 88285Chromosome countAdditional cells per study$26.91
- 88285 identifies an additional chromosome count. Use 88289 for additional high-resolution chromosome study.
- 88261Chromosome analysisFive-cell count$264.34
- 88261 identifies primary chromosome analysis with a five-cell count. 88289 identifies additional high-resolution work performed with a primary study.
- 88271DNA probeEach probe$21.42
- 88271 identifies a cytogenetic DNA-probe service. 88289 identifies additional high-resolution chromosome analysis.
- 88291Cytogenetic reportInterpretation and report$30.58–$42.28
- 88291 identifies cytogenetic interpretation and reporting; 88289 identifies additional high-resolution chromosome analysis.
88289 billing questions
When is 88289 reported with a primary chromosome-analysis code?
Report it when the service includes additional high-resolution chromosome analysis. It identifies the added study, not the underlying chromosome analysis.
How does 88289 differ from 88285?
88289 identifies additional high-resolution analysis; 88285 identifies an additional chromosome count.
Which primary code should accompany 88289?
Select the primary chromosome-analysis code for the underlying study. Codes 88261 through 88264 distinguish primary analyses by chromosome count.
Does modifier 26 apply to 88289?
88289 is paid through the CLFS only and is excluded from the physician fee schedule; it has no separately payable physician-fee-schedule interpretation component.
How does Medicare pay 88289?
Medicare pays one national CLFS amount per code across localities, with no geographic or 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
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