CPT code 83825: Mercury assay, quantitative mercury level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Quantitative mercury testing measures mercury in a patient specimen and is reported when a laboratory performs the assay.
Medicare pays $16.26 for 83825 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
$16.26
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 7 sections
What 83825 covers
CPT 83825 identifies a laboratory assay that quantitatively measures mercury in a submitted specimen. The reported result is the mercury level. This code is specific to mercury testing, rather than a general toxic-metal evaluation, and supports clinical assessment when a mercury measurement is requested.
Report 83825 for the mercury assay performed. Medicare pays the test only through the CLFS, which sets one national amount across all states and localities. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $16.26, unchanged from 2020 through 2025. The amount has no geographic adjustment and does not differ between office and facility settings. The physician fee schedule excludes this test by statute, so Medicare payment is 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 83825
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 83825. 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 83825 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83825 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83825 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$16.26
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.
83825 compared with similar tests
83825 billing questions
What does 83825 measure?
It identifies a quantitative laboratory assay of mercury. The reported result is the mercury level.
How does 83825 differ from 83885?
83825 is for mercury testing; 83885 is for nickel testing. Choose the code for the analyte measured.
How does 83825 differ from 83835?
83835 is for metanephrine testing, not mercury. Code selection follows the analyte assayed.
How does Medicare pay for 83825?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount, with no geographic adjustment 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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