CPT code 80179: Salicylate assay, salicylate measurement2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Salicylate assay measures salicylate and is reported when a laboratory performs this specific drug measurement.
Medicare pays $18.64 for 80179 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
$18.64
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2021
- Unchanged
- CMS updates
- Quarterly
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 7 sections
What 80179 covers
Code 80179 reports a laboratory measurement of salicylate. It identifies an assay for salicylate rather than a measurement of another medication. The result pertains to the salicylate analyte; this is a specific drug assay, not a general description of all medication testing. Laboratories use the code when reporting the salicylate assay. The identity of the measured drug is the key distinction between this code and nearby medication-assay codes.
Medicare pays code 80179 only through the CLFS. CMS sets one national amount, applied in every state and locality, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility payment difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $18.64, unchanged since 2021. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute and is paid only from the CLFS.
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 80179
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 80179. 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 80179 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
80179 on the lab fee schedule since 2021
80179 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$18.64
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2021
24 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2021 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
80179 compared with similar tests
- 80178Lithium levelQuantitative drug monitoring$6.61
- Code 80178 measures lithium; code 80179 measures salicylate. Select the code for the medication assayed.
- 80185Phenytoin levelTotal drug concentration$13.25
- Code 80185 measures total phenytoin. Use 80179 for salicylate, not phenytoin.
- 80186Phenytoin levelUnbound concentration$13.76
- Code 80186 measures free phenytoin. Code 80179 is for salicylate.
80179 billing questions
What analyte does code 80179 measure?
Code 80179 reports a laboratory measurement of salicylate.
When should 80179 be used instead of 80178?
Use 80179 for a salicylate assay. Code 80178 is for a lithium assay.
Does 80179 report a phenytoin assay?
No. Code 80185 is for total phenytoin, and 80186 is for free phenytoin; 80179 is for salicylate.
How does Medicare pay for 80179?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount, without locality or office-versus-facility payment differences.
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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