CPT code 82725: Blood fatty acids, nonesterified fatty acids2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports a laboratory assay measuring nonesterified fatty acids in blood, distinct from long-chain fatty acid measurement and fecal-fat testing.
Medicare pays $18.77 for 82725 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
$18.77
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 82725 covers
82725 reports a laboratory measurement of fatty acids in blood, specifically the nonesterified fatty acid assay. The blood specimen distinguishes this service from fecal-fat testing, including qualitative or quantitative stool-fat assays. Code 82726 describes long-chain fatty acid measurement and is a separate nearby analyte code; it should not be substituted solely because both tests concern fatty acids. The result is reported as the blood fatty acid assay performed.
Medicare pays 82725 through the CLFS, not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $18.77 and has remained unchanged since 2020. The same nationally set amount applies in every state and locality, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. Report 82725 for the assay performed; fecal-fat testing and long-chain fatty acid measurement have distinct code choices.
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 82725
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 82725. 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 82725 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82725 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82725 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$18.77
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.
82725 compared with similar tests
- 82726Fatty acid testVery long chain$19.75
- 82726 identifies long-chain fatty acid measurement; 82725 identifies the nonesterified fatty acid assay in blood.
- 82705Stool fat testQualitative$5.10
- 82705 identifies qualitative fecal-fat testing. Use 82725 for the blood fatty acid assay.
- 82710Fecal fatQuantitative stool lipids$16.80
- 82710 identifies quantitative fecal-fat testing, while 82725 identifies a blood fatty acid assay.
- 82715Fecal fatQuantitative differential$22.97
- 82715 identifies an assay of fecal fat; 82725 identifies a blood fatty acid assay.
82725 billing questions
When should 82725 be used instead of 82726?
Use 82725 for the nonesterified fatty acid assay in blood. Code 82726 identifies long-chain fatty acid measurement.
Can 82725 be reported for fecal-fat testing?
No. 82725 identifies a blood fatty acid assay; fecal-fat testing has separate code choices.
What should documentation distinguish for 82725?
Documentation should support the blood fatty acid assay, distinguishing it from long-chain fatty acid measurement and fecal-fat testing.
How does Medicare pay for 82725?
Medicare pays 82725 through the CLFS, using one nationally set amount across localities and settings.
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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