CPT code 82128: Amino acid analysis, multiple, qualitative2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative multiple-amino-acid analysis is reported once per specimen when a laboratory evaluates more than one amino acid without measuring concentrations.
Medicare pays $13.87 for 82128 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
$13.87
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 82128 covers
Code 82128 identifies qualitative analysis of multiple amino acids in each specimen. Qualitative reporting characterizes the amino acids analyzed without reporting their concentrations; it differs from a single-amino-acid qualitative test and from quantitative amino acid testing. Clinical laboratories report this code for the multiple-amino-acid qualitative service performed on the specimen. The code is selected by the qualitative, multiple-analyte nature of the analysis, not by counting each amino acid as a separate service.
Report one unit for each specimen analyzed. Medicare pays 82128 under the CLFS at one national amount: $13.87 in 2026, unchanged since 2020. The amount is the same across localities and has no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The physician fee schedule excludes the test; Medicare payment is 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 82128
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 82128. 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 82128 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82128 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82128 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$13.87
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.
82128 compared with similar tests
- 82127Amino acid testQualitative, one analyte$14.18
- 82127 is for qualitative analysis of one amino acid; 82128 is for qualitative analysis of multiple amino acids in each specimen.
- 82131Amino acid testSingle, quantitative$22.98
- 82131 is quantitative and covers a single amino acid. Use 82128 for qualitative analysis of multiple amino acids.
- 82136Amino acidsTwo to five amino acids$19.61
- 82136 reports quantitative analysis of two to five amino acids. 82128 represents qualitative analysis of multiple amino acids.
- 82139Amino acidsSix or more, quantitative$16.87
- 82139 is for quantitative analysis of six or more amino acids; 82128 is the qualitative multiple-amino-acid service.
82128 billing questions
When should 82128 be chosen over 82127?
Use 82128 when the qualitative analysis covers multiple amino acids in a specimen. Code 82127 describes qualitative analysis of a single amino acid.
How does 82128 differ from quantitative amino acid codes?
82128 reports qualitative analysis of multiple amino acids. Use a quantitative code when the service measures amino acid concentrations, selecting the code that fits the number of amino acids analyzed.
How many units are reported?
Report the code for each specimen analyzed. Do not count each amino acid as a separate unit under this code.
How does Medicare pay for 82128?
Medicare pays 82128 through the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The physician fee schedule excludes the test.
Does 82128 report amino acid concentrations?
No. 82128 is for qualitative analysis of multiple amino acids; quantitative codes apply when concentrations are measured.
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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