CPT code 83021: Hemoglobin analysis, chromatography-based fractionation2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Chromatographic hemoglobin analysis separates and measures hemoglobin types, supporting evaluation of suspected hemoglobin variants and other hemoglobin disorders.
Medicare pays $18.06 for 83021 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
$18.06
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 83021 covers
This laboratory test separates hemoglobin types by chromatography and measures the fractions present in a blood sample. It is commonly used when a clinician is evaluating a suspected hemoglobin variant or a disorder such as thalassemia. Clinical laboratories perform the analysis, and clinicians use the results alongside the patient’s history and other laboratory findings to assess the hemoglobin pattern.
Report 83021 for the chromatography-based analysis, rather than for each hemoglobin fraction measured. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $18.06, unchanged since 2020. The same amount applies in every state and locality, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test has no separate physician fee schedule payment.
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 83021
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 83021. 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 83021 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83021 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83021 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$18.06
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.
83021 compared with similar tests
- 83020Hemoglobin electrophoresisFractionation by electrophoresis$12.87
- Both assess hemoglobin types, but 83020 is for electrophoresis and 83021 is for chromatography. Select the code for the method performed.
- 83030Fetal hemoglobinChemical, quantitative$10.74
- 83030 targets fetal hemoglobin measurement. 83021 covers chromatographic separation and measurement of hemoglobin fractions.
- 83036A1c testLaboratory assay$9.71
- 83036 measures glycated hemoglobin for diabetes monitoring; 83021 evaluates hemoglobin types and variants.
83021 billing questions
When should 83021 be chosen over 83020?
Use 83021 when hemoglobin separation and measurement are performed by chromatography. Code 83020 describes the electrophoresis method.
Is 83021 the same as a hemoglobin A1c test?
No. 83021 analyzes hemoglobin types and variants; 83036 measures glycated hemoglobin for diabetes assessment.
Is the code reported once per hemoglobin fraction?
The service is the chromatography-based hemoglobin analysis, not a separate code for each fraction measured.
What specimen is used for this test?
The analysis is performed on a blood sample.
How does Medicare pay for 83021?
Medicare pays it only under the CLFS at one national amount, with no locality or 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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