HCPCS code G0143: Pap screening, manual screen and rescreen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports screening cervical or vaginal cytology from a preserved specimen prepared by automated thin-layer processing and manually screened and rescreened by a cytotechnologist.
Medicare pays $27.05 for G0143 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
$27.05
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 G0143 covers
This service covers screening cytology of a cervical or vaginal specimen collected in preservative fluid. The laboratory prepares the sample using an automated thin-layer process, then a cytotechnologist manually screens and rescreens it under physician supervision. It is reported for cervical or vaginal screening when that specific laboratory workflow is performed. The code represents laboratory testing. This is a laboratory service covering the preparation and cytotechnologist screening and rescreening workflow together.
Report G0143 for the test performed; the manual screening and rescreening steps are included in the service. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS, not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $27.05, unchanged from 2020 through 2025. The amount is uniform across states and localities, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference.
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 G0143
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 G0143. 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 G0143 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
G0143 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
G0143 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$27.05
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.
G0143 compared with similar tests
- G0147Cervical cytologyAutomated screening$18.54
- G0143 is for automated thin-layer preparation followed by manual screening and rescreening by a cytotechnologist. G0147 is associated with automated-system screening.
- G0148Cytology screeningAutomated, with manual rescreening$31.94
- G0143 includes manual screening and rescreening after automated thin-layer preparation. G0148 is associated with automated-system screening and rescreening.
G0143 billing questions
When should the lab report G0143 rather than G0147?
G0143 describes automated thin-layer preparation followed by manual screening and rescreening by a cytotechnologist. G0147 is associated with an automated-system screening workflow.
How does G0143 differ from G0148?
G0143 covers manual screening and rescreening after automated thin-layer preparation. G0148 is the automated-system screening pathway with rescreening.
Are screening and rescreening reported as separate units?
G0143 describes the combined manual screening and rescreening workflow. Those steps are included in the service.
How does Medicare pay G0143?
Medicare pays G0143 through the CLFS. The payment is one national amount across localities and does not differ between office and facility settings.
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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