CPT code 83009: H pylori test, C-13 blood analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Blood testing for Helicobacter pylori urease activity using nonradioactive carbon-13, reported when evaluating suspected infection or assessing response after treatment.
Medicare pays $67.36 for 83009 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
$67.36
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 83009 covers
This laboratory assay evaluates a blood specimen for Helicobacter pylori urease activity using a nonradioactive carbon-13 isotope. Clinicians may order it when evaluating suspected active H. pylori infection or assessing response after treatment. Unlike antibody testing, it assesses urease activity rather than the patient's immune response. A laboratory performs the test, which is reported for the blood analysis rather than an antibody assay.
Report 83009 for the blood analysis. Code 83014 may be reported for associated drug administration when it is performed with the isotope test. Medicare pays 83009 through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), at one national amount with no locality or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $67.36, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS, not 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 83009
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 83009. 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 83009 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83009 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83009 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$67.36
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.
83009 compared with similar tests
- 83013H. pylori Breath TestCarbon-13 urease analysis$67.36
- Choose 83009 for the carbon-13 blood analysis and 83013 for the corresponding breath analysis.
- 83014H pylori doseFor carbon-13 testing$7.86
- 83014 reports associated drug administration when performed; 83009 reports the blood analysis.
- 86677H. pylori antibodySerologic testing$16.85
- 86677 tests for H. pylori antibodies, while 83009 evaluates urease activity using a carbon-13 isotope.
83009 billing questions
How is 83009 different from 83013?
83009 is the carbon-13 blood analysis for H. pylori urease activity. Code 83013 is the corresponding breath analysis, so select the code that matches the analysis performed.
When is 83014 reported with 83009?
Report 83014 for the associated drug administration when it is performed as part of the isotope test. Code 83009 reports the blood analysis.
Is 83009 an antibody test?
No. It evaluates H. pylori urease activity using a carbon-13 isotope; antibody testing measures the patient's immune response.
How does Medicare pay 83009?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount. Payment is the same across localities and does not vary between office and facility settings.
Is a physician interpretation separately payable with 83009?
Medicare pays 83009 only through the CLFS; it is not a physician fee schedule service.
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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