CPT code 83951: DCP test, des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin in blood as a tumor marker used in hepatocellular carcinoma evaluation and follow-up, often alongside other liver cancer markers.
Medicare pays $64.41 for 83951 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
$64.41
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 83951 covers
This assay measures des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), an abnormal prothrombin associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatology and oncology teams may order it as a tumor marker when evaluating or following patients with HCC. The result is considered with the patient’s clinical findings, imaging, and other tumor markers; it is not a stand-alone diagnosis. The laboratory performs the assay on a blood specimen.
Report 83951 for the DCP measurement performed; it is distinct from testing for alpha-fetoprotein or other tumor markers. Medicare pays the test only through the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). The 2026 national CLFS amount is $64.41, unchanged since 2020. One national amount applies in every locality, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The physician fee schedule excludes the test, 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 83951
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 83951. 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 83951 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83951 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83951 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$64.41
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.
83951 compared with similar tests
- 83950HER-2/neu assaySerum oncoprotein measurement$64.41
- 83951 measures DCP; 83950 measures HER-2/neu. Select the code for the specific oncoprotein assay performed.
- 82105AFP testSerum$16.77
- 82105 reports alpha-fetoprotein testing, not DCP. Both markers may be measured for HCC, with each assay reported separately.
- 82107AFP-L3Fraction, total AFP, and ratio$64.41
- 82107 measures AFP with the L3% fraction; 83951 measures DCP. They identify different tumor marker assays.
83951 billing questions
When is 83951 used instead of 83950?
Use 83951 for DCP testing. Code 83950 is for HER-2/neu testing; the two codes identify different oncoproteins.
Is DCP testing the same as an AFP test?
No. DCP and alpha-fetoprotein are distinct tumor markers and are reported separately when both are measured.
How many units should be reported?
Report the assay performed as 83951. The code identifies the DCP test, not a panel or a count of multiple analytes.
Can modifier 26 be billed for a physician interpretation?
Medicare pays 83951 through the CLFS only; the physician fee schedule excludes the test.
What supports reporting 83951?
Documentation should identify the DCP assay performed.
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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