CPT code 82978: Glutathione assay, glutathione protein level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
This laboratory assay measures glutathione protein levels; distinguish it from the RBC-specific glutathione assay reported with code 82979.
Medicare pays $15.45 for 82978 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
$15.45
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 82978 covers
82978 reports a laboratory assay of glutathione protein levels. The related code 82979 identifies an RBC glutathione assay; distinguish the codes by whether the test is specifically an RBC glutathione assay. The distinction is the RBC-specific target, not a different analyte. Clinical laboratories report 82978 for glutathione protein-level testing.
Medicare pays 82978 through the CLFS at one national amount per code across all states and localities, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $15.45, unchanged at that amount each year from 2020 through 2025. The test is paid only under the CLFS and is excluded from the physician fee schedule. CMS sets one national CLFS amount for 82978 rather than locality-specific rates.
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 82978
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 82978. 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 82978 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82978 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82978 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$15.45
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.
82978 compared with similar tests
- 82979Glutathione reductaseRed blood cell enzyme$9.44
- Code 82979 identifies an RBC glutathione assay. Code 82978 reports a glutathione protein-level assay without that RBC-specific identification.
- 82955G6PD assayQuantitative enzyme activity$9.70
- Code 82955 is for an assay of the G6PD enzyme, not glutathione.
- 82960G6PD screenScreening, not enzyme assay$6.05
- Code 82960 is a test for the G6PD enzyme; 82978 is used for a glutathione protein-level assay.
82978 billing questions
How does 82978 differ from 82979?
82978 reports a glutathione protein-level assay. Code 82979 identifies an RBC glutathione assay.
What does 82978 measure?
It reports an assay of glutathione protein levels.
How does Medicare pay for 82978?
Medicare pays the code under the CLFS at one national amount across states and localities, with no office-versus-facility difference.
Is 82978 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test only under the CLFS; it is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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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