CPT code 82378: CEA test, protein level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures blood carcinoembryonic antigen, commonly used to monitor treatment response and possible recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer.
Medicare pays $18.96 for 82378 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
$18.96
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 82378 covers
CEA testing measures the blood concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen, a protein used as a tumor marker. Laboratories typically test serum using an immunoassay. Clinicians commonly order serial measurements for patients with colorectal cancer to follow treatment response and assess possible recurrence; CEA may also be monitored in other gastrointestinal cancers. Results are interpreted with the clinical picture and other findings, not as a standalone cancer diagnosis or screening result.
Report 82378 for a CEA assay performed; the code represents the CEA measurement rather than a panel of tumor markers. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount across states and localities, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national amount is $18.96, unchanged since 2020. The physician fee schedule excludes this test, so 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 82378
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 82378. 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 82378 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82378 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82378 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$18.96
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.
82378 compared with similar tests
- 86301CA 19-9Quantitative tumor antigen$20.81
- This code measures CA 19-9, a different tumor marker. Use 82378 when the laboratory measures CEA.
- 86300Tumor markerCA 15-3 quantitative assay$20.81
- This code measures CA 15-3, a different tumor marker often used in breast cancer monitoring. It is not the code for a CEA measurement.
- 86304CA 125Quantitative tumor antigen$20.81
- This code measures CA 125, a different tumor marker used in ovarian cancer care. Select 82378 only for testing carcinoembryonic antigen.
82378 billing questions
When is CEA reported instead of CA 19-9?
Report 82378 when the laboratory measures carcinoembryonic antigen. CA 19-9 is a different tumor marker, so use its code when that is the assay performed.
Is CEA a cancer screening test?
CEA is commonly used to monitor known cancer, including treatment response or possible recurrence. It is not a standalone cancer screening or diagnostic test.
How many units should be reported?
Report 82378 for the CEA assay performed. Do not base the unit count on the measured concentration.
How does Medicare pay for 82378?
Medicare pays 82378 through the CLFS at one national amount, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The physician fee schedule excludes the test.
Can CEA be reported with CA 19-9?
Both may be reported when both assays are performed. They measure different tumor markers.
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
Put 82378 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Build my fee sheet