HCPCS code G0148: Cytology screening, automated, with manual rescreening2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Automated screening of cervical or vaginal cytology smears with manual rescreening, reported when the laboratory performs this screening workflow.
Medicare pays $31.94 for G0148 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
$31.94
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 G0148 covers
G0148 identifies laboratory screening of cervical or vaginal cytology smears using an automated system followed by manual rescreening. The service concerns cytologic screening of the smear, not specimen collection. It is reported for laboratory cytopathology workflows involving cervical or vaginal screening specimens.
Report G0148 when automated screening is followed by manual rescreening. Distinguish it from automated screening without manual rescreening and from thin-layer preparation workflows. Medicare pays G0148 through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). The 2026 national CLFS amount is $31.94, unchanged from 2020 through 2026; the same amount applies across states and localities, with no office or facility difference. G0148 is excluded from the physician fee schedule and paid only through the CLFS.
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 G0148
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 G0148. 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 G0148 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
G0148 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
G0148 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$31.94
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.
G0148 compared with similar tests
- G0147Cervical cytologyAutomated screening$18.54
- Use G0148 when automated screening includes manual rescreening. G0147 describes automated screening without that manual rescreening.
- G0141Cytology screeningAutomated screening, manual rescreening$21.72–$31.60
- G0141 describes automated screening with manual rescreening requiring physician interpretation. G0148 describes automated screening with manual rescreening.
- G0143Pap screeningManual screen and rescreen$27.05
- G0143 is a related thin-layer preparation workflow for cervical or vaginal cytology. G0148 describes automated screening with manual rescreening.
G0148 billing questions
How does G0148 differ from G0147?
G0148 includes manual rescreening after automated screening. G0147 describes automated screening without the manual rescreening included in G0148.
When would G0141 be a better fit?
G0141 describes automated screening with manual rescreening requiring physician interpretation. G0148 describes automated screening with manual rescreening.
Is G0148 the code for thin-layer preparation?
No. G0148 describes automated screening with manual rescreening; G0143 is a related thin-layer preparation code.
Does Medicare pay G0148 through the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays G0148 through the CLFS; the code is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
What specimen does G0148 describe?
It applies to cervical or vaginal cytology smears. The code identifies the screening workflow, not specimen collection.
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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