CPT code 80053: Metabolic panel, fourteen blood chemistry tests2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
A comprehensive blood chemistry panel assessing glucose, electrolytes, kidney and liver-related measures, and proteins for broad metabolic evaluation.
Medicare pays $10.56 for 80053 under the 2026 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: one national amount, the same in every state and setting.
Medicare lab fee · CLFS 2026 Q4
National CLFS amount
$10.56
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2020
- Unchanged
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $10.56
Medicare pays the lesser of the lab’s charge and this amount. Patients usually owe no Part B deductible or coinsurance for covered clinical lab tests.
On this page 8 sections
What 80053 covers
This panel combines 14 blood chemistry measurements, including glucose, electrolytes, calcium, kidney-related markers, liver enzymes, bilirubin, albumin, and total protein. Clinicians commonly order it in primary care and other outpatient settings to assess metabolic status or evaluate a patient’s kidney, liver, or electrolyte findings. Hospital and independent laboratories typically perform the testing on a blood specimen; some sites may perform the CLIA-waived version.
Report 80053 when the complete panel is performed, rather than using it for only selected components. The CLIA-waived version is identified with modifier QW when performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $10.56, unchanged since 2020; the same amount applies across localities, without an office or facility payment difference.
This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule data. Amounts on this page come directly from CMS files.
How Medicare pays 80053
Clinical lab tests aren’t priced like physician services. They’re paid from their own fee schedule, with its own rules. See the whole lab fee schedule.
One national amount
CMS sets a single Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule amount for 80053. There’s no geographic (GPCI) adjustment, so it pays the same in every state and payment locality.
No office or facility rate
Lab tests aren’t built from relative value units, so there’s no office and facility split: the place of service doesn’t change the CLFS amount.
Updated every quarter
CMS republishes the CLFS each quarter. New tests, often proprietary laboratory analyses (PLA codes), join during the year; existing amounts are updated each January.
Excluded from the physician fee schedule
The physician fee schedule lists 80053 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 80053 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $10.56.
80053 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
80053 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$10.56
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2020
27 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2020 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
80053 compared with similar tests
- 80048Basic metabolic panelTotal calcium$8.46
- 80048 is the basic metabolic panel, with a narrower set of chemistry measurements. Use 80053 when the complete comprehensive panel is performed.
- 80076Liver panelSeven liver chemistry tests$8.17
- 80076 focuses on hepatic measurements, while 80053 covers a broader group that also includes glucose, electrolytes, kidney-related measures, and proteins.
- 80069Renal panelKidney-focused chemistry panel$8.68
- 80069 is a renal function panel; 80053 is the broader comprehensive panel. Choose based on the panel actually performed.
- 80050General health panelFour-test combinationNo national amount
- 80050 is a general health panel that includes the comprehensive metabolic panel plus other testing. Use 80053 when only the comprehensive metabolic panel is performed.
80053 billing questions
When should 80053 be reported instead of a basic metabolic panel?
Report 80053 when the complete comprehensive panel is performed. A basic metabolic panel is the more limited panel when the broader set of liver-related and protein measurements is not performed.
Can the individual tests in the panel also be billed separately?
Do not report 80053 for a partial panel. When the complete panel is performed, report the panel rather than separately reporting its included measurements for the same testing.
When is modifier QW used with 80053?
Use QW for the CLIA-waived version when testing is performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
How many units should be reported?
Report one unit for one complete panel performed on a specimen. Do not increase units to represent the individual measurements included in the panel.
How does Medicare pay for 80053?
Medicare pays 80053 under the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is paid through the CLFS rather than the physician fee schedule.
Where this amount comes from
FeeBase reads lab amounts directly from the CMS Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule file for the quarter: one row per code, with its payment indicator and national amount. Contractor-priced tests are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare payment limits, not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.
CMS CLFS 2026 Q4 · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027
Show the CMS file line behind this amount
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