CPT code 83020: Hemoglobin electrophoresis, fractionation by electrophoresis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Electrophoretic hemoglobin fractionation measures hemoglobin types to help evaluate suspected hemoglobin disorders, carrier status, or unexplained anemia.
Medicare pays $12.87 for 83020 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
- 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 83020 covers
Hemoglobin electrophoresis separates hemoglobin types in a blood sample and supports measurement of fractions such as HbA2, HbS, HbC, and HbF. Clinicians order it when evaluating suspected inherited hemoglobin disorders, including sickle cell disease or trait and thalassemia, or investigating unexplained anemia. Hematology, hospital, and reference laboratories perform the analysis; it is also used in carrier assessment, including prenatal evaluation. The fraction pattern is interpreted alongside clinical history and other laboratory findings.
Report 83020 for hemoglobin fraction analysis performed by electrophoresis, not chromatography. The laboratory test is paid under the CLFS at one national amount, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $12.87, unchanged since 2020. A separate physician interpretation is payable under the physician fee schedule when billed with modifier 26. Document the electrophoretic method and the fractions or pattern reported.
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 83020
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 83020. 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 83020 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
Physician interpretation (modifier 26)
A physician’s interpretation is billed separately with modifier 26 and paid under the physician fee schedule: $17.70 nationally in the office, before locality adjustment.
83020 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83020 · 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.
83020 compared with similar tests
- 83021Hemoglobin analysisChromatography-based fractionation$18.06
- Both analyze hemoglobin fractions, but 83020 is for electrophoresis and 83021 is for chromatography. Select the code that matches the method performed.
- 83030Fetal hemoglobinChemical, quantitative$10.74
- 83030 is a chemical fetal hemoglobin test. Use 83020 for electrophoretic separation and measurement of hemoglobin fractions.
- 83036A1c testLaboratory assay$9.71
- 83036 measures glycated hemoglobin for assessment of longer-term glucose control. It is not a hemoglobin variant or fractionation test.
83020 billing questions
When should 83020 be reported instead of 83021?
Use 83020 when the hemoglobin fractionation is performed by electrophoresis. Code 83021 describes hemoglobin analysis by chromatography.
Can the physician interpretation be billed separately?
A separate physician interpretation is payable under the physician fee schedule when billed with modifier 26.
How does Medicare pay for the laboratory test?
The test is paid under the CLFS at one national amount, with no geographic adjustment or difference between office and facility settings.
What documentation helps distinguish 83020 from other hemoglobin tests?
Document that the laboratory used electrophoresis and identify the fractions or pattern reported. A test limited to HbA1c or fetal hemoglobin addresses a different testing purpose.
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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 83020 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist