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.
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 code | Short description | Modifier indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|
96523 | Irrig drug delivery device | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check 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 code | Short description | Modifier indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|
0115U | 1 | Check pair | |
0225U | 1 | Check pair | |
0408U | 0 | Check pair | |
0528U | 1 | Check pair | |
87426 | Sarscov coronavirus ag ia | 0 | Check pair |
87428 | Sarscov & inf vir a&b ag ia | 0 | Check pair |
87631 | Resp virus 3-5 targets | 1 | Check pair |
87632 | Resp virus 6-11 targets | 1 | Check pair |
87633 | Resp virus 12-25 targets | 1 | Check pair |
87635 | Sars-cov-2 covid-19 amp prb | 1 | Check pair |
87636 | Sarscov2 & inf a&b amp prb | 0 | Check pair |
87637 | Sarscov2&inf a&b&rsv amp prb | 0 | 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.