CPT code 82150: Amylase, enzyme activity2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures the amylase level in a specimen, commonly during evaluation of suspected pancreatitis or salivary gland disease.
Medicare pays $6.48 for 82150 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
$6.48
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
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $6.48
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 82150 covers
This laboratory assay measures the level of amylase, an enzyme produced mainly by the pancreas and salivary glands. It is commonly ordered during evaluation of acute abdominal pain or suspected pancreatitis and may also be used when assessing salivary gland disorders. Clinical laboratories perform amylase testing on serum; urine amylase testing is also performed. Hospitals and office laboratories may report the assay, including sites performing the CLIA-waived version.
Report one assay for the amylase test performed; this code identifies the assay rather than the clinical reason for testing. Modifier QW identifies the CLIA-waived version for sites holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays the test under the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $6.48, unchanged since 2020. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule and 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 82150
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 82150. 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 82150 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 82150 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $6.48.
82150 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82150 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$6.48
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.
82150 compared with similar tests
- 83690Lipase$6.89
- This code measures amylase; 83690 measures lipase. Both may be ordered for suspected pancreatitis, but they are separate assays.
- 80053Metabolic panelFourteen blood chemistry tests$10.56
- A comprehensive metabolic panel measures a group of chemistry analytes and does not replace a separately performed amylase assay.
82150 billing questions
When should amylase be reported instead of lipase?
Report amylase when the laboratory measures amylase. Lipase is a different enzyme assay and is often ordered alongside amylase when evaluating suspected pancreatitis.
Which specimens can be tested?
Serum is commonly tested, and urine amylase testing is also performed. Select the code based on the amylase assay performed, not a specimen-specific code.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
Use QW for the CLIA-waived version when the testing site holds a CLIA certificate of waiver and performs the waived test.
Does this code have physician fee schedule payment?
No. Medicare pays this test only through the CLFS.
Does the CLFS amount vary by locality or setting?
No. CMS sets one national amount for the code, without a geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment.
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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