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87449 Nos each organism ag ia

What 87449 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Nos each organism ag ia.

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 87449 (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.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 87449 at 3 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 87449? These codes are bundled into it

87449 is a Column 1 code in 4 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 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
87206Smear fluorescent/acid stai1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
88346Imfluor 1st 1antb stain px1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
88350Imfluor ea addl 1antb stn px1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
96523Irrig drug delivery device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

87449 is bundled into these codes

87449 appears as a Column 2 code in 7 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 87449 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
87147Culture type immunologic1Check pair
87480Candida dna dir probe1Check pair
87520Hepatitis c rna dir probe1Check pair
87521Hepatitis c probe&rvrs trnsc1Check pair
87590N.gonorrhoeae dna dir prob1Check pair
87797Detect agent nos dna dir1Check pair
87798Detect agent nos dna amp1Check 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.