CPT code 82810: Blood saturation, oxygen saturation only2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Direct blood oxygen saturation measurement is reported when oxygen saturation alone, rather than a combination of blood gas components, is measured.
Medicare pays $9.77 for 82810 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
$9.77
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 82810 covers
Code 82810 identifies direct measurement of oxygen saturation in blood, with oxygen saturation as the sole reported blood gas component. It is distinct from pulse oximetry, which is not the direct blood measurement represented by this code. It also differs from blood gas codes for pH, for testing without oxygen saturation, or for combinations of blood gas components. Select among those codes according to the component or components measured and reported; use 82810 when only blood oxygen saturation is measured.
Medicare pays 82810 under the CLFS only. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $9.77, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. One national amount applies in every state and locality, without a geographic adjustment or an office or facility payment difference. The test has no separate physician fee schedule payment. Select a blood gas code describing additional components when those components are measured and reported.
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 82810
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 82810. 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 82810 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82810 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82810 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$9.77
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.
82810 compared with similar tests
- 82803Blood gasesCalculated oxygen saturation$26.07
- Choose 82810 for oxygen saturation alone. Code 82803 describes blood gas testing that includes a combination of components.
- 82805Blood gasWith measured oxygen saturation$78.77
- Code 82805 is for blood gas testing without oxygen saturation; 82810 reports oxygen saturation alone.
- 82800Blood pHpH only$11.00
- Code 82800 reports blood pH. Code 82810 reports direct blood oxygen saturation.
82810 billing questions
When should 82810 be chosen instead of a broader blood gas code?
Use 82810 when the blood gas measurement is oxygen saturation alone. Use a code for a combination when additional blood gas components are measured.
Is 82810 a pulse oximetry service?
No. It reports direct measurement of oxygen saturation in a blood specimen, not noninvasive pulse oximetry.
Should 82810 be separately reported with a blood pH or other blood gas measurement?
Code 82810 identifies oxygen saturation alone. When a combination of blood gas components is measured, choose the applicable combination code, such as 82803.
Does Medicare pay 82810 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS. One national amount applies across localities, with no office or facility payment difference.
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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