CPT code 82553: CK-MB test, MB fraction only2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures the MB fraction of creatine kinase in a blood specimen, commonly ordered when evaluating suspected cardiac muscle injury.
Medicare pays $11.55 for 82553 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
$11.55
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 82553 covers
This laboratory assay measures the MB fraction of creatine kinase, an enzyme associated with cardiac muscle. It distinguishes this fraction from total CK activity. Clinicians may order it when evaluating suspected myocardial injury. Hospital and independent laboratories perform the testing on blood specimens; the ordering clinician uses the result alongside the patient’s symptoms, examination, and other cardiac findings.
Report this code for the MB fraction assay alone, rather than a total CK measurement or a broader CK isoenzyme assay. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS, with one national amount across localities and no office-versus-facility payment difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $11.55, unchanged since 2020. The service 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 82553
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 82553. 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 82553 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82553 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82553 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$11.55
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.
82553 compared with similar tests
- 82550Total CKTotal enzyme activity$6.51
- Choose 82550 for total CK. Choose 82553 when the assay is limited to the MB fraction.
- 82552CK isoenzymesBlood isoenzyme assay$13.39
- 82552 is used for CK isoenzyme testing; 82553 identifies testing of the MB fraction specifically.
- 82554CK isoformsIsoform analysis$11.87
- 82554 is for CK isoforms. 82553 identifies testing of the MB fraction specifically.
82553 billing questions
When should 82553 be chosen instead of 82550?
Use 82553 for an assay of the CK-MB fraction alone. Code 82550 represents a total CK assay.
How does 82553 differ from 82552?
82553 reports the MB fraction only. 82552 is used for CK isoenzyme testing.
What should the laboratory documentation support?
The record should identify the CK-MB fraction assay performed and the blood specimen tested. The result should be documented as the MB fraction rather than total CK alone.
Does Medicare pay 82553 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this laboratory test through the CLFS, using one national amount across localities and care settings.
What does 82553 report when total CK is also measured?
82553 identifies the MB fraction assay; 82550 identifies a total CK assay.
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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