CPT code 82653: Fecal elastase, quantitative2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Quantitative fecal pancreatic elastase testing measures this stool enzyme to help evaluate suspected exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
Medicare pays $22.97 for 82653 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
$22.97
In effect since Jan 1, 2026. The same amount in every state, payment locality and setting.
- Geographic adjustment
- None
- Office vs facility
- Same
- Since 2022
- 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 82653 covers
This laboratory test measures pancreatic elastase in stool and reports a quantitative result. Gastroenterology clinicians and other providers may order it when evaluating suspected exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, including in patients with chronic pancreatitis or symptoms of malabsorption. The stool test provides a noninvasive assessment of pancreatic enzyme output and differs from blood testing used to assess acute pancreatic injury.
Report 82653 when the laboratory performs a quantitative fecal elastase assay. Use 82656 when the assay is qualitative or semiquantitative. Medicare pays the test only under the CLFS. The 2026 national amount is $22.97 and has remained unchanged since 2022; it applies in every state and locality, with no office or facility payment difference. No separate physician interpretation payment is made under the physician fee schedule.
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 82653
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 82653. 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 82653 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82653 on the lab fee schedule since 2022
82653 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$22.97
Unchanged since Jan 1, 2022
20 quarterly CLFS releases on file, first CLFS 2022 Q1. A code missing from a quarter wasn’t on that release.
82653 compared with similar tests
- 82656Fecal elastaseQualitative or semiquantitative$11.53
- Both test fecal pancreatic elastase. Choose 82653 for a quantitative result and 82656 for a qualitative or semiquantitative result.
- 82710Fecal fatQuantitative stool lipids$16.80
- This code reports fecal fat testing, not pancreatic elastase measurement. It assesses fat malabsorption rather than quantifying this enzyme.
- 83690Lipase$6.89
- This code measures lipase in a different clinical context; it does not report fecal pancreatic elastase or evaluate the same stool analyte.
82653 billing questions
When should 82653 be used instead of 82656?
Use 82653 when the laboratory performs a quantitative fecal pancreatic elastase assay. Use 82656 for a qualitative or semiquantitative assay.
What specimen is tested?
The test measures pancreatic elastase in stool.
Is a physician interpretation separately billed?
No. The test is paid only through the CLFS, with no separate physician interpretation payment under the physician fee schedule.
Does the CLFS payment vary by setting or locality?
No. One national CLFS amount applies in every state and locality, with no office or facility payment difference.
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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