CPT code 82985: Glycated protein, short-term glycemic marker2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures glycated proteins, commonly as a fructosamine test, to help clinicians assess recent glycemic control when a shorter-term marker is useful.
Medicare pays $16.76 for 82985 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
$16.76
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
- $16.76
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 82985 covers
82985 measures glycated serum proteins, commonly reported as fructosamine, and helps assess recent glycemic control over a shorter interval than hemoglobin A1c. Clinicians may order it to evaluate recent changes in glucose control or when A1c is less useful. Clinical laboratories perform the assay; sites holding a CLIA certificate of waiver may perform the waived version.
Report 82985 for the glycated-protein assay performed. For the waived version, report modifier QW when the test is performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays 82985 only through the CLFS, at one national amount regardless of locality or office-versus-facility setting. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $16.76, unchanged since 2020. The test is excluded from 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 82985
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 82985. 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 82985 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 82985 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $16.76.
82985 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82985 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$16.76
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.
82985 compared with similar tests
- 83036A1c testLaboratory assay$9.71
- Choose 82985 for a glycated-protein measure reflecting a shorter interval; 83036 measures hemoglobin A1c for longer-term glycemic assessment.
- 82947Blood glucoseQuantitative, not reagent strip$3.93
- 82947 measures quantitative glucose in blood. 82985 measures glycated proteins rather than glucose concentration at collection.
- 82962Meter glucoseFDA home-use cleared instrument$3.28
- 82962 is a point-of-care blood glucose test. Use 82985 when the ordered test is a glycated-protein assay.
82985 billing questions
How does 82985 differ from hemoglobin A1c testing?
82985 measures glycated proteins and reflects a shorter period of glycemic control. Hemoglobin A1c is generally used to assess longer-term glycemic control.
When should 82985 be selected instead of a glucose test?
Use 82985 for a glycated-protein result. A blood glucose test measures glucose at the time of collection rather than glycated proteins.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
Report QW for the waived version when it is performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
Is 82985 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 82985 through the CLFS only; the test is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
Does Medicare use a different 82985 amount by locality or setting?
No. The CLFS amount is national and applies across localities, without an office-versus-facility 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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