CPT code 82190: Atomic absorption, per analyte2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
CPT 82190 reports laboratory measurement of a substance by atomic absorption spectroscopy, with one service reported for each analyte measured.
Medicare pays $15.90 for 82190 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
$15.90
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 7 sections
What 82190 covers
Atomic absorption spectroscopy is a laboratory method that measures a substance using spectroscopy, a light-based measurement method. CPT 82190 identifies measurement by this method, with reporting organized by analyte. The code distinguishes the analytical method rather than naming a particular substance. The reported analyte and method should be consistent with the laboratory service.
Report one service for each analyte measured by atomic absorption. Medicare pays 82190 under the CLFS at one national amount across states and localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national amount is $15.90, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The code 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 82190
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 82190. 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 82190 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82190 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82190 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$15.90
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.
82190 compared with similar tests
- 82108Aluminum assay$25.48
- 82108 identifies an aluminum assay, while 82190 identifies atomic absorption measurement per analyte. The codes describe different aspects of a laboratory service.
- 82175Arsenic testArsenic analyte$18.97
- 82175 identifies an arsenic assay, while 82190 identifies atomic absorption measurement per analyte. The codes describe different aspects of a laboratory service.
82190 billing questions
How does 82190 differ from an analyte-specific assay code?
82190 identifies the atomic absorption method for each analyte. Analyte-specific codes name a particular assay, such as aluminum or arsenic.
How many units should be reported?
Report one service for each analyte measured by atomic absorption, not for each specimen container.
What documentation supports reporting 82190?
The reported service should establish which analyte was measured and that atomic absorption spectroscopy was the method.
How does Medicare pay for 82190?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. It is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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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