CPT code 82436: Chloride assay, urine specimen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures chloride in urine to assess renal electrolyte handling, often during evaluation of acid-base disorders or changes in fluid and volume status.
Medicare pays $5.75 for 82436 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
$5.75
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 82436 covers
The assay measures chloride in a urine specimen. Clinicians may order it when evaluating electrolyte or acid-base disturbances, including metabolic alkalosis, or assessing how the kidneys are handling chloride in the context of a patient’s volume status. It is a distinct analyte measurement from chloride testing on blood or other fluids and may be ordered alongside other urine electrolytes.
Report 82436 for the urine chloride assay performed. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.75, unchanged since 2020. Medicare pays one national amount per code across all localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment; the test is paid through the CLFS. It is paid only from the CLFS, rather than 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 82436
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 82436. 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 82436 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82436 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82436 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.75
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.
82436 compared with similar tests
- 82435Chloride testBlood specimen$4.60
- 82436 is for urine chloride; 82435 is for chloride measured in blood.
- 82438Chloride assayOther fluid source$5.00
- Choose 82436 for urine. Code 82438 applies when the chloride assay uses another fluid.
- 84300Urine sodiumUrine specimen$5.06
- 82436 measures urine chloride, while 84300 measures urine sodium. They are separate assays and may be ordered together.
82436 billing questions
When should 82436 be used instead of 82435?
Use 82436 when the chloride assay is performed on urine. Code 82435 is for chloride measured in blood.
Does 82436 include urine sodium testing?
No. 82436 reports the urine chloride assay; urine sodium is a separate analyte and is reported separately when performed.
Can 82436 be used for chloride in another fluid?
No. Code 82436 is specific to urine. Code 82438 is for chloride assays on other fluids.
Is 82436 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 82436 through the CLFS.
How does Medicare pay for 82436 across locations?
Medicare pays one national CLFS amount per code, with the same amount across localities and no 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
Fee sheets
Put 82436 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Build my fee sheet