87188 Sc std macrobroth dil meth
What 87188 is
CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Sc std macrobroth dil meth.
Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.
Medicare payment for 87188 (CY2026)
This code has no Physician Fee Schedule rate: Statutory exclusion - not payable under the Physician Fee Schedule. It may be paid under a different fee schedule (clinical laboratory, DMEPOS, anesthesia) or not paid at all - check the relevant CMS schedule.
Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)
Medicare caps 87188 at 6 units per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 3 - date of service edit (clinical): units above the MUE may pay with documentation on appeal), rationale: Clinical: Data. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.
Billed with 87188? These codes are bundled into it
87188 is a Column 1 code in 3 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.
| Column 2 code | Short description | Modifier indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|
87190 | Sc std myobacteria prop meth | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
88387 | Macroscopic xm dsj&prep tiss | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
96523 | Irrig drug delivery device | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
87188 is bundled into these codes
87188 appears as a Column 2 code in 16 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 87188 is the code that denies.
| Column 1 code | Short description | Modifier indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|
0086U | 1 | Check pair | |
0140U | 1 | Check pair | |
0141U | 1 | Check pair | |
0142U | 1 | Check pair | |
0311U | 1 | Check pair | |
0321U | 1 | Check pair | |
0441U | 1 | Check pair | |
0483U | 1 | Check pair | |
0484U | 1 | Check pair | |
0504U | 1 | Check pair | |
87181 | Sc std agar dilution per agt | 1 | Check pair |
87184 | Sc std disk method per plate | 1 | Check pair |
87185 | Sc std enzyme detcj per nzm | 1 | Check pair |
87186 | Sc std microdil/agar dil | 1 | Check pair |
87513 | H pylri clrthmcn rst amp prb | 1 | Check pair |
Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.