CPT code 82525: Copper, copper concentration2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures copper in a submitted specimen, commonly supporting evaluation of suspected copper deficiency, excess, or disorders of copper metabolism.
Medicare pays $12.41 for 82525 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
$12.41
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 82525 covers
This laboratory assay measures copper concentration in a submitted specimen. It is ordered in evaluations of suspected copper deficiency or excess and disorders of copper metabolism, including Wilson disease. Depending on the clinical question and laboratory method, testing may use blood or urine. A copper result is distinct from ceruloplasmin, which measures a copper-carrying protein and may be ordered as part of the same evaluation. Clinical laboratories perform and report the assay.
Report 82525 for the copper assay performed; the code does not represent a copper-and-ceruloplasmin panel. Medicare pays it through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $12.41, unchanged each year since 2020. One national amount applies across states and localities, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference. The test is paid only from 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 82525
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 82525. 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 82525 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82525 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82525 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$12.41
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.
82525 compared with similar tests
- 82390CeruloplasminProtein concentration$10.74
- 82390 measures ceruloplasmin, a copper-carrying protein. Use 82525 for the copper assay; the tests may be ordered together but are not interchangeable.
- 84630Zinc test$11.39
- 84630 measures zinc, not copper. A zinc result does not substitute for the copper assay.
82525 billing questions
When should 82525 be reported instead of ceruloplasmin?
Report 82525 for a copper assay. Ceruloplasmin is a separate test, reported with 82390, and may be ordered alongside copper testing when evaluating copper metabolism.
Does 82525 represent a copper panel?
No. It represents the copper assay, not a panel with ceruloplasmin, zinc, or other analytes.
Can copper testing be performed on blood or urine?
Copper may be measured in blood or urine, depending on the clinical question and laboratory method. Report the assay performed on the submitted specimen.
How does Medicare pay for 82525?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount for all localities and settings. It is paid only from the CLFS.
Is there a separate physician interpretation payment?
No separate physician-fee-schedule payment is assigned to this test; Medicare payment is through the CLFS.
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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