HCPCS code U0002: COVID-19 test, multiple targets, any technique2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports a non-CDC-developed laboratory test for SARS-CoV-2 that may use any technique and detect multiple types, subtypes, or targets.
Medicare pays $51.31 for U0002 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
$51.31
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
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $51.31
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 U0002 covers
U0002 identifies laboratory testing for SARS-CoV-2 using a non-CDC test. Its scope includes any testing technique and tests that detect multiple types or subtypes, including all targets. The code distinguishes this non-CDC test from the CDC-developed test represented by U0001.
Report U0002 for the qualifying non-CDC test performed; its scope includes all targets of the test. CMS lists modifier QW for the CLIA-waived version, which may be performed by sites holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays U0002 through the CLFS at one nationally set amount in every state and locality, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $51.31, unchanged from 2022 through 2025. U0002 is 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 U0002
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 U0002. 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 U0002: Medicare pays the test only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists U0002 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $51.31.
U0002 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
U0002 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$51.31
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2022
Every change on file
- Jan 1, 2022 · CLFS 2022 Q1MAC-priced → $51.31
26 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q3. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
U0002 compared with similar tests
- U0001COVID-19 PCRCDC-developed panel$35.92
- Choose U0001 for the CDC-developed SARS-CoV-2 test. U0002 identifies a test developed outside the CDC.
- 87635COVID-19 testAmplified nucleic acid detection$51.31
- 87635 identifies SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing. U0002 covers a non-CDC test across techniques, including multiple types, subtypes, or targets.
- 87426Coronavirus antigenQualitative or semiquantitative$35.33
- 87426 identifies SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection by immunoassay. U0002 covers a qualifying non-CDC test across techniques, including tests with multiple types, subtypes, or targets.
U0002 billing questions
When should U0002 be chosen over U0001?
U0002 identifies a non-CDC-developed SARS-CoV-2 test. U0001 is for the CDC-developed test.
Does U0002 depend on the test method?
No. It covers the qualifying non-CDC test regardless of technique, including tests that detect multiple types, subtypes, or targets.
What does the multiple-target scope include?
The code includes tests detecting multiple types or subtypes and all targets.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
CMS lists QW for the CLIA-waived version. Use it when reporting that version from a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
How does Medicare pay U0002?
Medicare pays the code through the CLFS using one national amount across localities, without an office or facility payment difference.
Is a physician interpretation separately paid under U0002?
U0002 is paid 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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