CPT code 82017: Acylcarnitines, quantitative per specimen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Quantitative acylcarnitine testing measures acylcarnitines in a specimen as part of laboratory evaluation for genetic disorders.
Medicare pays $16.87 for 82017 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
$16.87
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
- 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 8 sections
What 82017 covers
Code 82017 identifies quantitative measurement of acylcarnitines in each submitted specimen. It is a chemical laboratory test used in evaluating genetic disorders. The reported service is the quantitative assay; a qualitative acylcarnitine assay is reported separately under 82016. The test concerns acylcarnitines, a different analyte group from ketones, amino acids, or organic acids. Laboratories report the test based on the specimen analyzed.
Report one unit for each specimen tested. Medicare pays 82017 under the CLFS at a single national amount, with the same payment across states and localities and no office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $16.87, unchanged from 2020 through 2025. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule and is paid only through 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 82017
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 82017. 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 82017 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82017 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82017 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$16.87
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.
82017 compared with similar tests
- 82016AcylcarnitinesQualitative, specimen-based$16.49
- 82017 reports quantitative acylcarnitine testing; 82016 reports qualitative acylcarnitine testing.
- 82139Amino acidsSix or more, quantitative$16.87
- 82139 reports quantitative amino acid testing, a different analyte group from the acylcarnitines measured under 82017.
- 83918Organic acidsTotal quantitative$23.60
- 83918 reports qualitative organic acid testing, a different analyte group and method from the quantitative acylcarnitine testing reported under 82017.
82017 billing questions
When should 82017 be reported instead of 82016?
Use 82017 for quantitative acylcarnitine testing and 82016 for qualitative acylcarnitine testing. Select the code that matches the assay performed.
How many units should be reported?
Report one unit for each specimen tested.
Is 82017 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS; it is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
What does 82017 measure?
It reports quantitative acylcarnitine testing. It is distinct from testing for ketones, amino acids, or organic acids.
What should the record support?
The record should identify the quantitative acylcarnitine assay performed and the specimen tested.
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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