CPT code 82805: Blood gas, with measured oxygen saturation2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures blood gas components and oxygen saturation for assessment of oxygenation, ventilation, and acid-base status in acute or pulmonary care.
Medicare pays $78.77 for 82805 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
$78.77
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 82805 covers
This test measures blood gas values, such as pH, carbon dioxide, or oxygen, together with oxygen saturation measured directly rather than by pulse oximetry. It is commonly ordered for patients with acute respiratory or acid-base concerns, including in emergency, critical care, and pulmonary settings. Arterial blood is a typical specimen; the code identifies the blood gas service with measured oxygen saturation, not pulse oximetry alone.
Report 82805 when the blood gas testing includes directly measured oxygen saturation. Select a neighboring blood gas code when the testing does not include that measurement or reports oxygen saturation alone. Medicare pays 82805 through the CLFS; the 2026 national amount is $78.77, unchanged since 2020. One CLFS amount applies nationwide, without locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is paid only through the CLFS, not 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 82805
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 82805. 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 82805 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82805 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82805 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$78.77
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.
82805 compared with similar tests
- 82803Blood gasesCalculated oxygen saturation$26.07
- Choose 82805 when directly measured oxygen saturation accompanies the blood gas testing. 82803 covers blood gas testing without that measured saturation.
- 82810Blood saturationOxygen saturation only$9.77
- 82810 reports oxygen saturation alone. 82805 reports blood gas testing that also includes directly measured oxygen saturation.
- 82800Blood pHpH only$11.00
- 82800 is limited to blood pH testing; 82805 represents broader blood gas testing with directly measured oxygen saturation.
82805 billing questions
When should 82805 be chosen instead of 82803?
Use 82805 when blood gas testing includes directly measured oxygen saturation. Use 82803 when the reported blood gas testing does not include that measurement.
Does pulse oximetry support reporting 82805?
No. The oxygen saturation for 82805 is measured directly; pulse oximetry is excluded.
How does 82805 differ from 82810?
82805 includes blood gas testing with directly measured oxygen saturation. 82810 is for oxygen saturation alone.
Does Medicare pay 82805 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS, with one national amount that applies across localities and settings.
What should the record support for 82805?
Document the blood gas testing performed and that oxygen saturation was measured directly, rather than by pulse oximetry.
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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