CPT 82550: Total Creatine Kinase (CK/CPK) Assay
Commercial payers pay $17 on average nationally for this procedure.
CPT code 82550 reports a laboratory assay measuring total creatine kinase (CK/CPK) activity in a patient specimen, a clinical chemistry service used to detect muscle injury, myocardial damage, or other tissue breakdown; the service is performed by a clinical laboratory and typically provided in hospital or outpatient laboratory settings.
For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Salivary Hormone Testing, Bone Turnover Markers Testing, Parathyroid Hormone, Phosphorus, Calcium, and Magnesium Testing.
Customize your policy alerts
Sign up for cpt 82550 policy alerts
Get alerted when payer policies referencing 82550 are released or updated.
Monitor payer policy activity
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
The national commercial landscape for CPT 82550 centers on a BUCA average commercial rate of $16.6, with individual payers clustered at different levels. Blue Cross Blue Shield averages higher ($23.8) with wider variability, while Aetna ($7.8), Cigna ($7.3), and UnitedHealth Group ($5.8) report lower means. BUCA provides a mid-market anchor between the lower-mean payers and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Dispersion (P75 minus P25) highlights contract variability: Blue Cross Blue Shield has the widest interquartile spread at $8.1 ($27.9 - $19.8), indicating greater rate dispersion, while UnitedHealth Group is the tightest at $3.6 ($6.5 - $2.9). Aetna and Cigna show moderate spreads of $4.3 ($8.6 - $4.3) and $5.1 ($9.4 - $4.3), respectively, signaling more limited but meaningful within-payer variation.