CPT code 82951: Glucose tolerance, three specimens2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures blood glucose in three specimens during a glucose tolerance test to assess response to a glucose challenge.
Medicare pays $12.87 for 82951 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
$12.87
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
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $12.87
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 82951 covers
This laboratory service measures blood glucose in three specimens collected during a glucose tolerance test. The serial measurements assess the patient's response to a glucose challenge. The three-specimen count distinguishes 82951 from glucose tests that represent a different specimen count or testing method.
Report one unit for the three specimens represented by 82951. When the test includes specimens beyond those three, report 82952 for the added samples. For the CLIA-waived version, modifier QW identifies testing performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS. The 2026 national amount is $12.87, unchanged since 2020; one amount applies nationwide, without geographic or office/facility adjustment.
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 82951
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 82951. 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 82951 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 82951 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $12.87.
82951 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82951 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$12.87
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.
82951 compared with similar tests
- 82950Post-dose glucoseAfter glucose challenge$4.75
- 82951 covers a glucose tolerance test with three specimens. Choose 82950 for glucose testing after a glucose dose when the three-specimen test is not performed.
- 82952GTT specimensBeyond three specimens$3.92
- 82952 is for specimens beyond the three represented by 82951. Report it with the primary test when additional samples are included.
- 82947Blood glucoseQuantitative, not reagent strip$3.93
- 82947 reports quantitative blood glucose testing; it does not represent the three-specimen glucose tolerance test captured by 82951.
- 82962Meter glucoseFDA home-use cleared instrument$3.28
- 82962 describes blood glucose testing by a monitoring device. Use 82951 for the three-specimen glucose tolerance test.
82951 billing questions
When should 82951 be reported instead of 82950?
Use 82951 for a glucose tolerance test that includes three specimens. Code 82950 is used for glucose testing after a glucose dose when the three-specimen test is not performed.
How are additional specimens reported?
Code 82951 represents the three-specimen test. Report 82952 for additional specimens when the test includes samples beyond those three.
Can modifier QW be reported?
Yes. Modifier QW identifies the CLIA-waived version when testing is performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
Does Medicare pay 82951 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS, with one national amount across localities and office or facility settings.
How many units are reported for the three specimens?
Report one unit for the three specimens represented by 82951. Use 82952 for additional specimens when the test includes samples beyond those three.
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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