HCPCS code G0483: Drug test, 22 or more classes2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Definitive drug testing for 22 or more classes, including metabolites when performed, reported once per day with specimen validity testing.
Medicare pays $246.92 for G0483 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
$246.92
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 G0483 covers
G0483 represents definitive drug testing across 22 or more drug classes, including metabolites when performed. The laboratory method must identify individual drugs and distinguish structural isomers. Methods may include gas or liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry; immunoassays and enzymatic methods are excluded. The analysis uses stable-isotope or other recognized internal standards in all samples and method- or drug-specific calibration with matrix-matched quality-control material. Results may be qualitative or quantitative, and the service includes specimen validity testing. Specimens may come from any source.
Report G0483 once per day, based on the number of drug classes tested. Medicare pays the test only under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). The 2026 national CLFS amount is $246.92 and has remained unchanged since 2020. One amount applies across localities, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule.
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 G0483
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 G0483. 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 G0483 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
G0483 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
G0483 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$246.92
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.
G0483 compared with similar tests
- G0480Definitive drug testOne to seven classes$114.43
- G0480 applies when definitive testing covers 1–7 drug classes; G0483 applies at 22 or more.
- G0481Definitive drug test8–14 drug classes$156.59
- G0481 covers 8–14 drug classes; select G0483 for definitive testing across 22 or more classes.
- G0482Definitive drug test15 to 21 classes$198.74
- G0482 covers 15–21 drug classes, while G0483 is the tier for 22 or more.
G0483 billing questions
How does G0483 differ from the lower drug-class tiers?
Use G0483 when definitive testing covers 22 or more drug classes. G0480, G0481, and G0482 cover lower class-count tiers.
Is the code reported per drug, specimen, or day?
G0483 is reported once per day for testing 22 or more drug classes. The tier is based on drug classes, not the number of individual drugs or metabolites.
Does G0483 include specimen validity testing?
Yes. Specimen validity testing is included in the service represented by G0483.
Can G0483 represent qualitative and quantitative testing?
Yes. The code encompasses definitive testing reported qualitatively or quantitatively.
How does Medicare pay for G0483?
Medicare pays G0483 under the CLFS. One national amount applies across localities and settings, and the test 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
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