CPT code 95018: Drug allergy testing, percutaneous and intracutaneous tests2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $19.04 for 95018 nationally in the office and $6.01 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $16.90–$25.60.

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 95018 covers

An allergist or other qualified clinician uses percutaneous and/or intracutaneous testing to evaluate a suspected immediate hypersensitivity reaction to a drug or biological product. Testing may be considered when a medication allergy history needs clinical evaluation, such as before deciding whether a patient can receive a needed antibiotic. The code covers a combination of the two skin-test methods; it is specific to drugs and biologicals rather than environmental allergen extracts.

Report the number of tests performed, and retain documentation identifying the agents and test methods, the results, and the clinician’s interpretation and report. Interpretation and reporting are part of the service, rather than separate services for the same tests. Under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, payment is based on work, practice expense, and malpractice relative value units; the practice-expense valuation differs between office and facility settings.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 95018 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

95018 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 95018 rate is calculated

Each of 95018’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 95018

95018 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

95018 compared with similar codes

How to choose

95017Venom testingPercutaneous and intradermal

95018 is for drug or biologic allergy testing; 95017 is used for venom testing.

95004Allergy skin prick testPercutaneous, immediate reaction, per test

95004 describes percutaneous tests with allergenic extracts. Choose 95018 when testing drugs or biologicals, including when percutaneous testing is part of a combination of methods.

95024Intradermal allergy testImmediate reaction, allergenic extracts

95024 is for intracutaneous tests with allergenic extracts. 95018 covers drug or biologic testing using intracutaneous testing alone or with percutaneous testing.

Codes related to 95018

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates