CPT code 82533: Cortisol, total hormone measurement2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Total cortisol testing measures bound and unbound cortisol and is reported when clinicians assess adrenal function, including suspected insufficiency or cortisol excess.
Medicare pays $16.30 for 82533 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
$16.30
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 82533 covers
Total cortisol testing measures cortisol in a patient specimen, including the protein-bound and unbound fractions. Clinicians use the result when assessing adrenal function, including suspected adrenal insufficiency or excess cortisol production. The test may be ordered as a baseline measurement or during a stimulation or suppression evaluation. Unlike a free-cortisol assay, it represents the total cortisol concentration.
Report 82533 for a total cortisol measurement. Use 82530 when the order is for free cortisol rather than total cortisol. Medicare pays 82533 only through the CLFS; its 2026 national amount is $16.30 and has remained unchanged since 2020. The same national amount applies in every state and locality, with no geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment.
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 82533
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 82533. 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 82533 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
82533 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82533 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$16.30
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.
82533 compared with similar tests
- 82530Free cortisolUnbound cortisol fraction$16.71
- 82533 measures total cortisol, including bound and unbound fractions. 82530 is used when the requested test is specifically for free cortisol.
- 82024ACTH assayHormone level$38.62
- 82024 measures ACTH, a different hormone involved in adrenal regulation. It may be ordered alongside cortisol testing.
82533 billing questions
How does 82533 differ from 82530?
82533 measures total cortisol, including bound and unbound fractions. Use 82530 when the requested measurement is free cortisol.
Does 82533 measure ACTH?
No. 82533 measures cortisol; ACTH is a different hormone measured with code 82024 and may be assessed alongside cortisol.
How does Medicare pay for 82533?
Medicare pays 82533 through the CLFS only.
Does the CLFS amount vary by location or setting?
No. One national amount applies in every state and locality, without an office-versus-facility adjustment.
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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