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87811 Sars-cov-2 covid19 w/optic

What 87811 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Sars-cov-2 covid19 w/optic.

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 87811 (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 87811 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 2 - date of service edit (absolute): units above the MUE never pay), rationale: Code Descriptor / CPT Instruction. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 87811? These codes are bundled into it

87811 is a Column 1 code in 1 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
96523Irrig drug delivery device1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair

87811 is bundled into these codes

87811 appears as a Column 2 code in 12 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 87811 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0115U1Check pair
0225U1Check pair
0408U0Check pair
0528U1Check pair
87426Sarscov coronavirus ag ia0Check pair
87428Sarscov & inf vir a&b ag ia0Check pair
87631Resp virus 3-5 targets1Check pair
87632Resp virus 6-11 targets1Check pair
87633Resp virus 12-25 targets1Check pair
87635Sars-cov-2 covid-19 amp prb1Check pair
87636Sarscov2 & inf a&b amp prb0Check pair
87637Sarscov2&inf a&b&rsv amp prb0Check 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.