CMS has released the October 1, or fourth-quarter, Clin Lab Fee Schedule, CLFS. The next one, on January 1, will be based on PAMA prices. CLFS here. PLA codes (new and unpriced) run up to 0698U.
AMA has issued PLA codes for the October 1 cycle. This includes "new" codes released now and effective January 1, 2027 PDF here. 0699U to 0715U are released now for January.
The Mysterious Use of "OR MORE"
Labs that run gene panels don't want a PLA code with an exact number ("panel of 73 genes") since it has to be updated with product cycles (83 genes, 93 genes, etc). From what I can tell, PLA gave out the format "N genes or more" regularly up to 0334U in October 2022.
Then, we don't see the format again until now, where Guardant RNA test 0696U has "350 or more genes."
This might seem like the ultimate micro-nerd observation, but if you got a code between 2022 and 2026 ,and had to editorially update it from "75 genes" to " 75 85 genes" this will all register as important.
Here's a Chat GPT extraction, which I'm trusting to find "or more." Note the gap from 0334U to 0696U.
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(The analysis is based on current CLFS, and won't include deleted examples.)
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For use of "or more" to represent substances rather than genes, we have more examples, although there is still a gap from 0328U to 0511U.
See also this uses:
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And here should be an open public link to the above AI analysis. of the latest PLA list from AMA and the 10-2026 CLFS.
https://chatgpt.com/share/6ac3ffc0-eaf4-83e8-8d54-c02212e5cf79
