CPT code 83045: Methemoglobin, qualitative analysis2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative methemoglobin analysis checks for methemoglobin in blood, often during evaluation of cyanosis or suspected oxidant-related methemoglobinemia.
Medicare pays $6.49 for 83045 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
$6.49
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 83045 covers
This laboratory test qualitatively evaluates methemoglobin, a form of hemoglobin, rather than measuring its concentration. It may be ordered when findings such as cyanosis raise concern for methemoglobinemia, including after possible exposure to oxidant medications or chemicals. The test is performed on a blood specimen by a clinical laboratory. It differs from quantitative methemoglobin testing and from tests that evaluate other hemoglobin derivatives.
Report 83045 when qualitative methemoglobin analysis is performed; report 83050 when the laboratory measures methemoglobin concentration. Medicare pays 83045 through the CLFS at one national amount in every state and locality, with no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $6.49, unchanged since 2020. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute and is paid only through the CLFS.
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 83045
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 83045. 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 83045 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83045 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83045 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$6.49
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.
83045 compared with similar tests
- 83050MethemoglobinQuantitative$8.20
- Both concern methemoglobin. Choose 83045 for a qualitative analysis and 83050 when the concentration is measured.
- 83060SulfhemoglobinQuantitative level$8.80
- 83045 evaluates methemoglobin qualitatively; 83060 measures sulfhemoglobin, a different hemoglobin derivative.
- 83020Hemoglobin electrophoresisFractionation by electrophoresis$12.87
- Use 83020 for hemoglobin electrophoresis when evaluating hemoglobin patterns or variants, not for qualitative methemoglobin analysis.
83045 billing questions
When should 83045 be selected instead of 83050?
Use 83045 when the laboratory performs a qualitative analysis for methemoglobin. Use 83050 when it measures the methemoglobin concentration.
Does 83045 identify sulfhemoglobin?
No. 83045 concerns methemoglobin; 83060 is used for quantitative sulfhemoglobin analysis.
What specimen is associated with this test?
Methemoglobin analysis is performed on a blood specimen.
How does Medicare pay for 83045?
Medicare pays 83045 through the CLFS at one national amount applicable across localities and settings. The test 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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