CPT code 83013: H. pylori Breath Test, carbon-13 urease analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reports laboratory analysis of a nonradioactive carbon-13 breath test for H. pylori urease activity in evaluating active infection.
Medicare pays $67.36 for 83013 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 83013 covers
83013 reports laboratory analysis of a breath test that detects H. pylori urease activity using a nonradioactive carbon-13 urea substrate. The patient provides breath samples after receiving the substrate; the laboratory analyzes the test to help evaluate suspected active infection or assess response after treatment. This test is distinct from blood and stool testing for H. pylori.
Report 83013 for the breath-test analysis, not per breath sample. Report 83014 for administration of the H. pylori test drug when that service is performed with the analysis. Medicare pays 83013 only under the CLFS, at one national amount across all states and localities without an office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $67.36, unchanged from 2020 through 2026; no separate physician-fee-schedule payment is made.
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 83013
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 83013. 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 83013 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83013 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83013 · 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.
83013 compared with similar tests
- 83009H pylori testC-13 blood analysis$67.36
- Choose 83013 for the carbon-13 breath-test analysis; 83009 identifies the H. pylori blood-test analysis.
- 83014H pylori doseFor carbon-13 testing$7.86
- 83013 reports the breath-test analysis. 83014 identifies administration of the H. pylori test drug when that service is performed.
- 87338H. pylori antigenStool immunoassay$14.38
- 83013 analyzes a carbon-13 breath test for urease activity; 87338 detects H. pylori antigen in a stool specimen.
83013 billing questions
When should 83013 be used instead of 83009?
Use 83013 for analysis of the H. pylori carbon-13 breath test. Code 83009 identifies the H. pylori blood-test analysis.
Is substrate administration included in 83013?
83013 reports the breath-test analysis. Code 83014 identifies administration of the H. pylori test drug when that service is performed with the analysis.
Should 83013 be reported once for each breath sample?
No. Report the analysis for the breath test, not separately for each sample collected during that test.
How does Medicare pay for 83013?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS only. The national amount is the same across localities and does not vary between office and facility settings.
Is there a separate physician-fee-schedule payment for the analysis?
No. Code 83013 is excluded from the physician fee schedule and is paid only through the CLFS.
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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