CPT code 82530: Free cortisol, unbound cortisol fraction2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures free, unbound cortisol, often in timed urine collections used to evaluate suspected cortisol excess such as Cushing syndrome.
Medicare pays $16.71 for 82530 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
$16.71
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 82530 covers
82530 identifies laboratory measurement of cortisol's unbound fraction, distinct from total cortisol. Urinary free cortisol is commonly measured from a timed, often 24-hour, urine collection when evaluating suspected cortisol excess, including Cushing syndrome. Endocrinologists and other clinicians may order the test, and a clinical laboratory performs and reports the assay. The code is selected by the analyte and fraction measured; it is not the code for total cortisol or corticosterone.
Report 82530 for a free cortisol assay. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS at one national amount across states and localities, without office-versus-facility variation. The 2026 national amount is $16.71, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The physician fee schedule excludes the test by statute, so Medicare payment for this test 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 82530
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 82530. 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 82530 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82530 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82530 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$16.71
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.
82530 compared with similar tests
- 82533CortisolTotal hormone measurement$16.30
- Choose 82530 for free cortisol and 82533 for total cortisol. The codes represent different measured fractions of the hormone.
- 82024ACTH assayHormone level$38.62
- 82024 measures ACTH, not cortisol; it may be ordered as a separate analyte during an adrenal evaluation.
- 82528Corticosterone assayHormone level measurement$22.52
- 82528 measures corticosterone, a different adrenal steroid. Use 82530 when the requested analyte is free cortisol.
82530 billing questions
When should 82530 be used instead of 82533?
Use 82530 when the laboratory measures free, unbound cortisol. Use 82533 when the test measures total cortisol.
What specimen is commonly tested?
Urinary free cortisol is commonly measured from a timed urine collection, often a 24-hour collection.
Does the collection interval determine the code?
The code is selected for measurement of free cortisol. Distinguish the measured analyte and fraction from total cortisol.
What should documentation identify?
Documentation should identify the free cortisol assay and the specimen tested.
Does Medicare pay 82530 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, with no office or 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
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