HCPCS code U0001: COVID-19 PCR, CDC-developed panel2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Identifies the CDC-developed real-time RT-PCR diagnostic panel for 2019-nCoV, distinguishing it from non-CDC COVID-19 laboratory testing.
Medicare pays $35.92 for U0001 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
$35.92
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2022
- 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 U0001 covers
U0001 identifies the CDC's real-time RT-PCR diagnostic panel for 2019-nCoV. A clinical laboratory reports this code when it performs the CDC panel; U0001 is distinct from the non-CDC COVID-19 laboratory testing identified by U0002. The code is specific to that CDC panel rather than a general code for every SARS-CoV-2 molecular assay.
Medicare pays U0001 through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule. The CLFS uses one nationally set amount for the code across states and localities, without geographic adjustment or a difference between office and facility settings. The 2026 national amount is $35.92, unchanged from 2022 through 2026. Medicare pays the code only under the CLFS; no separate physician fee schedule service is associated with it.
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 U0001
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 U0001. 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.
Not on the physician fee schedule
The physician fee schedule doesn’t list U0001: Medicare pays the test only from the CLFS.
U0001 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
U0001 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$35.92
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2022
Every change on file
- Jan 1, 2022 · CLFS 2022 Q1MAC-priced → $35.92
26 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q3. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
U0001 compared with similar tests
- U0002COVID-19 testMultiple targets, any technique$51.31
- U0001 identifies the CDC-developed RT-PCR panel. U0002 identifies non-CDC COVID-19 laboratory testing.
- 87635COVID-19 testAmplified nucleic acid detection$51.31
- U0001 is specific to the CDC-developed diagnostic panel. 87635 describes molecular SARS-CoV-2 detection by an amplified probe technique.
- 87426Coronavirus antigenQualitative or semiquantitative$35.33
- U0001 identifies the CDC RT-PCR panel. 87426 identifies SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection, a different testing method.
U0001 billing questions
What test does U0001 identify?
It identifies the CDC-developed real-time RT-PCR diagnostic panel for 2019-nCoV.
How does U0001 differ from U0002?
U0001 identifies the CDC panel; U0002 identifies non-CDC COVID-19 laboratory testing.
How does Medicare pay U0001?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount that applies across localities and settings.
Does U0001 have a separate physician fee schedule payment?
No. Medicare pays U0001 only through the CLFS.
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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