CPT code 83885: Nickel test2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
The nickel assay measures nickel levels and is reported when a laboratory test determines nickel as the analyte.
Medicare pays $24.51 for 83885 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
$24.51
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 83885 covers
Code 83885 identifies a laboratory assay measuring nickel level. Report it when nickel is the analyte being measured; the analyte distinguishes this code from other laboratory assays. The assay reports nickel measurement rather than a general metal result.
Medicare pays 83885 under the CLFS, which sets one national amount per code for all states and localities. The amount has no geographic adjustment or office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national amount is $24.51, the same amount listed for every year from 2020 through 2026. The code is nationally priced, with CMS setting one national amount. It 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 83885
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 83885. 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 83885 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83885 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83885 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$24.51
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.
83885 compared with similar tests
- 83825Mercury assayQuantitative mercury level$16.26
- Use 83885 for a nickel assay and 83825 for a mercury assay. The measured analyte determines which code applies.
- 83655Lead testBlood lead level$12.11
- Code 83655 is for lead measurement; 83885 is for nickel measurement.
- 82175Arsenic testArsenic analyte$18.97
- Code 82175 is for arsenic measurement; report 83885 when the assay measures nickel.
- 82525CopperCopper concentration$12.41
- Code 82525 is for copper measurement, not nickel. Choose according to the analyte tested.
83885 billing questions
What does 83885 measure?
It identifies a laboratory assay measuring nickel level.
How does 83885 differ from 83825?
Code 83885 measures nickel; 83825 measures mercury. Select the code for the analyte measured.
Does Medicare payment for 83885 vary by locality or setting?
No. Medicare pays one national CLFS amount, with no locality or office-versus-facility difference.
Is 83885 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. It is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute and 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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