CPT code 82668: Erythropoietin, protein level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures erythropoietin to help evaluate anemia or an increased red blood cell count, including whether erythrocytosis is secondary to another cause.
Medicare pays $18.79 for 82668 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
$18.79
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 82668 covers
This assay measures erythropoietin, a protein that signals the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. It is typically performed by a clinical laboratory and ordered by hematologists, nephrologists, and other clinicians evaluating anemia or erythrocytosis. Results can help distinguish erythrocytosis driven by increased erythropoietin from primary marrow disorders and help assess erythropoietin production in patients with anemia or kidney disease.
Report 82668 for the erythropoietin assay. Interpret the result alongside the blood count and the patient’s clinical findings; a complete blood count or JAK2 testing may be part of the same evaluation. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS, with one national amount and no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $18.79, unchanged since 2020. The test is excluded from 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 82668
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 82668. 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 82668 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82668 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82668 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$18.79
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.
82668 compared with similar tests
- 85025Complete CBCAutomated differential$7.77
- 85025 reports a complete blood count with differential; 82668 measures the erythropoietin protein. They answer different questions and may be used together.
- 85027Complete CBCWithout automated differential$6.47
- 85027 reports a complete blood count without differential, not an erythropoietin measurement. Select 82668 when the erythropoietin level is tested.
- 81270JAK2 testV617F variant$91.66
- 81270 analyzes the JAK2 gene, whereas 82668 measures erythropoietin. These tests assess different aspects of an erythrocytosis evaluation.
82668 billing questions
When should 82668 be reported instead of a complete blood count?
Report 82668 when the laboratory measures erythropoietin. A complete blood count measures blood cell counts and is a different test, often used alongside erythropoietin in an anemia or erythrocytosis evaluation.
Does 82668 identify whether erythrocytosis is primary or secondary?
The erythropoietin result can help distinguish erythropoietin-driven secondary erythrocytosis from primary marrow disorders. It is interpreted with the patient’s blood count and clinical findings.
Is 82668 a CLFS or physician fee schedule service?
Medicare pays 82668 only through the CLFS. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
Does the Medicare amount vary by locality or setting?
No. Medicare uses one national CLFS amount for the code, with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment.
Can 82668 be reported with JAK2 testing?
They may both be reported during an erythrocytosis evaluation: 82668 measures erythropoietin, while JAK2 testing assesses for a related genetic finding.
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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