CPT code 82139: Amino acids, six or more, quantitative2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Quantitative amino acid testing measures six or more amino acids per specimen and supports evaluation of inherited metabolic disorders and abnormal amino acid levels.
Medicare pays $16.87 for 82139 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 82139 covers
Laboratories quantify six or more amino acids in a specimen and report the measured levels. Clinicians may order the analysis when evaluating suspected inherited metabolic disorders, abnormal amino acid metabolism, or an abnormal result requiring quantitative characterization. Plasma and urine are common specimens. The code reflects the number of amino acids measured and the quantitative nature of the service.
Report one service for each specimen tested, not a separate service for every amino acid measured. Select this code when six or more amino acids are quantified; codes 82131 and 82136 distinguish quantitative testing of one amino acid and two to five amino acids, respectively. Medicare pays 82139 only through the CLFS, at one nationally set amount that applies across states and localities, without geographic or office/facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $16.87, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
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 82139
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 82139. 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 82139 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82139 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82139 · 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.
82139 compared with similar tests
- 82136Amino acidsTwo to five amino acids$19.61
- Choose 82136 for quantitative analysis of two to five amino acids in a specimen; 82139 covers six or more.
- 82131Amino acid testSingle, quantitative$22.98
- 82131 is for quantitative testing of one amino acid. Use 82139 when the quantitative analysis includes six or more.
- 82128Amino acid analysisMultiple, qualitative$13.87
- 82128 describes qualitative testing of multiple amino acids; 82139 is used when six or more are measured quantitatively.
82139 billing questions
When should 82139 be selected instead of 82136?
Use 82139 when six or more amino acids are quantified in the specimen. Code 82136 is for quantitative testing of two to five amino acids.
Are units counted by amino acid or by specimen?
Report the service by specimen, not by the number of amino acids included in the quantitative analysis.
How does 82139 differ from qualitative amino acid testing?
82139 represents quantitative measurement of six or more amino acids. Qualitative testing identifies amino acids without reporting their measured concentrations.
How does Medicare pay for 82139?
Medicare pays it only through the CLFS, at one national amount that is the same across localities and office or facility settings.
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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 82139 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist