CPT code 82705: Stool fat test, qualitative2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative fecal fat analysis identifies fat or lipids in stool and may be reported during evaluation of suspected fat malabsorption or steatorrhea.
Medicare pays $5.10 for 82705 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
$5.10
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 82705 covers
82705 identifies fat or lipids qualitatively in a stool specimen. Clinicians may order it when evaluating suspected fat malabsorption or steatorrhea. The laboratory reports a qualitative finding rather than a measured amount. This test can support evaluation of gastrointestinal or nutritional concerns and differs from fecal-fat testing that reports a quantitative result. Clinical laboratories perform the analysis and report the result to the ordering clinician.
Report 82705 when the fecal fat analysis performed is qualitative; use 82710 for quantitative fecal fat testing. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS, which sets one national amount for all localities with no office-versus-facility payment difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.10, unchanged from 2020 through 2026.
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 82705
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 82705. 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 82705 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82705 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82705 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.10
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.
82705 compared with similar tests
- 82710Fecal fatQuantitative stool lipids$16.80
- 82705 reports a qualitative fecal fat result; 82710 is used for quantitative fecal fat testing.
- 82715Fecal fatQuantitative differential$22.97
- 82715 is another fecal-fat assay code. Choose the code that matches the analysis performed rather than substituting it automatically for a qualitative test.
- 82725Blood fatty acidsNonesterified fatty acids$18.77
- 82725 assays fatty acids in blood, whereas 82705 analyzes fat or lipids in stool.
82705 billing questions
When should 82705 be chosen over 82710?
Use 82705 for a qualitative assessment of fecal fat. Use 82710 when the ordered test measures fecal fat quantitatively.
How does 82705 differ from 82715?
82705 is a qualitative analysis of fecal fat or lipids. 82715 is another fecal-fat assay code; select the code that matches the analysis performed.
What specimen is tested?
The test analyzes stool for fat or lipids, and the laboratory reports a qualitative finding.
How does Medicare pay 82705?
Medicare pays 82705 through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no office-versus-facility payment difference.
Does 82705 report a measured quantity?
No. It reports a qualitative fecal-fat result; 82710 is used for quantitative fecal fat testing.
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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