CPT code 82948: Blood glucose, reagent-strip method2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures blood glucose in a blood specimen by reagent strip; reported for a strip-based measurement rather than a quantitative assay or glucose tolerance test.
Medicare pays $5.04 for 82948 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
$5.04
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 82948 covers
82948 identifies a blood glucose measurement made with a reagent strip. It is used for a strip-based determination when a clinician assesses blood glucose, including point-of-care testing in an office or other outpatient setting. It is distinct from a quantitative blood glucose assay and from testing performed with a glucose monitoring device; code selection follows the method used. It does not describe glucose tolerance testing or glucose measurement in a nonblood fluid.
Report 82948 for the reagent-strip blood glucose service. Medicare pays it under the CLFS, which has one national amount across states and localities, with no geographic adjustment or office/facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.04, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. Medicare pays the service through the CLFS rather than 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 82948
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 82948. 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 82948 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82948 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82948 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.04
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.
82948 compared with similar tests
- 82947Blood glucoseQuantitative, not reagent strip$3.93
- Choose 82948 for the reagent-strip method; 82947 is for a quantitative blood glucose assay.
- 82962Meter glucoseFDA home-use cleared instrument$3.28
- 82962 is for blood glucose testing with a glucose monitoring device cleared by the FDA specifically for home use. Select the code that matches the device and method used.
- 82951Glucose toleranceThree specimens$12.87
- 82951 is for glucose tolerance testing, not an individual reagent-strip blood glucose measurement.
82948 billing questions
How does 82948 differ from 82947?
82948 is for a reagent-strip blood glucose measurement; 82947 is for a quantitative blood glucose assay. Select the code that matches the method.
How does 82948 differ from 82962?
82962 describes blood glucose testing with a glucose monitoring device cleared by the FDA specifically for home use. Choose based on the method and device used.
How many units should be reported?
Report the service as a reagent-strip blood glucose measurement; do not infer a unit count from the number of strips used.
Is 82948 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 82948 through the CLFS, with one national amount across localities and no office/facility difference.
Should 82948 be used for glucose tolerance testing?
No. Use the applicable glucose tolerance code, such as 82951, for glucose tolerance testing; 82948 describes a reagent-strip blood glucose measurement.
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
Fee sheets
Put 82948 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Build my fee sheet