CPT code 82143: Amniotic Fluid Test, spectrophotometric analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Spectrophotometric testing of amniotic fluid is reported when evaluating fetal hemolysis associated with maternal red-cell antibodies.
Medicare pays $9.35 for 82143 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
$9.35
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 82143 covers
This laboratory test uses spectrophotometry to assess amniotic fluid, typically to evaluate fetal hemolysis when maternal red-cell antibodies raise concern for fetal anemia. An obstetric clinician or maternal-fetal medicine specialist may order it after amniocentesis; a laboratory performs and reports the analysis on the collected fluid. It differs from amniotic-fluid alpha-fetoprotein testing, which addresses a different prenatal question.
Report the scan performed on the amniotic-fluid specimen. Medicare pays code 82143 only through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $9.35, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The same amount applies across states and localities, without a geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility 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 82143
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 82143. 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 82143 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82143 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82143 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$9.35
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.
82143 compared with similar tests
- 82106AFP testAmniotic fluid$17.00
- Code 82106 measures alpha-fetoprotein in amniotic fluid; code 82143 is the spectrophotometric analysis used in evaluating fetal hemolysis.
- 82105AFP testSerum$16.77
- Code 82105 measures alpha-fetoprotein in serum. It is not the amniotic-fluid spectrophotometric analysis reported with 82143.
- 76821Fetal DopplerMiddle cerebral artery$80.21–$121.29
- Code 76821 reports middle cerebral artery Doppler velocimetry for fetal assessment. Code 82143 reports a laboratory analysis of amniotic fluid.
82143 billing questions
When is this scan appropriate instead of amniotic-fluid AFP testing?
Use this code for spectrophotometric amniotic-fluid analysis in the evaluation of fetal hemolysis. Amniotic-fluid AFP testing addresses a different prenatal concern and is reported with 82106.
Is this code reported with the amniocentesis procedure?
Code 59000 reports diagnostic fluid collection; 82143 reports the laboratory analysis. Report the scan when the laboratory performs and reports the analysis.
What specimen does the laboratory analyze?
The test analyzes amniotic fluid collected by amniocentesis. It is not a serum test.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays code 82143 through the CLFS. One national amount applies across localities and settings.
Can fetal anemia surveillance use a different approach?
Middle cerebral artery Doppler velocimetry, reported with code 76821, is a noninvasive fetal anemia surveillance method. It is distinct from spectrophotometric analysis of amniotic fluid.
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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