CPT code 82679: Estrone, estrone-specific hormone assay2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures estrone, an estrogen hormone, and is reported when the laboratory assay performed is specific to estrone.
Medicare pays $24.95 for 82679 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
$24.95
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
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $24.95
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 82679 covers
Code 82679 identifies a laboratory assay that measures estrone, one of the estrogen hormones. It is distinct from tests for estradiol or estriol and from assays reported for estrogens more broadly. Select this code when the measured analyte is estrone; nearby estrogen-related codes identify different analytes or a broader estrogen assay. The code names the test rather than a multi-analyte panel.
Report 82679 for the estrone assay performed. CMS lists modifier QW for the CLIA-waived version, which sites holding a CLIA certificate of waiver may perform. Medicare pays the test under CLFS, not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $24.95, unchanged from 2020 through 2026; the same amount applies across states and localities, with no office or facility difference.
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 82679
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 82679. 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 82679 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 82679 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $24.95.
82679 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82679 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$24.95
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.
82679 compared with similar tests
- 82670EstradiolTotal estradiol$27.94
- 82679 is for estrone; 82670 is for estradiol. Select the code for the hormone actually measured.
- 82671Estrogen testFractionated$32.30
- 82679 identifies an estrone assay specifically. Use 82671 when the performed test is an assay of estrogens rather than an estrone-specific assay.
- 82677EstriolEstriol hormone level$24.18
- 82679 measures estrone, while 82677 measures estriol. These are distinct hormone analytes.
- 82681Free estradiolDirect measurement$27.94
- 82679 is an estrone assay; 82681 is for direct measurement of free estradiol.
82679 billing questions
When should this code be used instead of the estradiol assay?
Use this code when the test performed measures estrone. The estradiol assay, 82670, measures a different estrogen hormone.
Can estrone and estradiol be reported for the same patient?
They may be reported when both distinct assays are ordered and performed. Each code should match the analyte actually measured.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
CMS lists a QW version for the CLIA-waived test. Sites holding a CLIA certificate of waiver may perform that version.
What should the documentation identify?
Documentation should support that the assay performed measured estrone, rather than estradiol, estriol, or a broader group of estrogens.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays it under the CLFS at one national amount, regardless of locality or office versus facility setting. It is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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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