CPT code 83789: Mass spectrometry, non-drug analytes, each specimen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Qualitative or quantitative mass spectrometry identifies or measures a non-drug analyte when no more specific analyte code describes the laboratory test.
Medicare pays $24.11 for 83789 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
$24.11
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 83789 covers
This method-based laboratory code is for qualitative or quantitative mass spectrometry of a non-drug analyte that lacks a more specific analyte code. Testing may use standard or tandem mass spectrometry, including MALDI, mass spectrometry with time-of-flight, or quadrupole time-of-flight analysis. Laboratories use the code to identify or measure the analyte in a specimen; it is not specific to a particular analyte or clinical indication.
Report one unit for each specimen tested, whether the result is qualitative or quantitative. Choose a more specific analyte code when applicable; report 83789 only when no more specific code describes the analyte and method. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one nationally set amount, with the same amount in every state and locality and no office or facility difference. The 2026 national amount is $24.11, unchanged since 2020. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule and 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 83789
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 83789. 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 83789 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83789 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83789 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$24.11
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.
83789 compared with similar tests
- 82542Chromatography testNon-drug analytes, each specimen$24.09
- 82542 describes quantitative chromatography for a non-drug analyte; 83789 describes mass spectrometry. Select the code matching the method performed.
- 83785ManganeseHeavy metal level$26.65
- 83785 is specific to manganese testing. Use 83789 for mass spectrometry of a non-drug analyte when no more specific analyte code applies.
83789 billing questions
When should the laboratory report 83789?
Report it for qualitative or quantitative mass spectrometry of a non-drug analyte when a more specific analyte code does not describe the test.
How many units should be reported?
Report one unit for each specimen tested.
Can 83789 be used for a drug assay?
No. This code is for non-drug analytes.
How does 83789 differ from 82542?
82542 describes quantitative chromatography for a non-drug analyte, while 83789 describes mass spectrometry. Select the code matching the method performed.
How does Medicare pay 83789?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount that applies across localities and settings. The service is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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 83789 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist