CPT code 82570: Urine creatinine, urine specimen2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Urine creatinine testing supports kidney-function assessment and creatinine-normalized urine albumin or protein results, reported for the assay performed.
Medicare pays $5.18 for 82570 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
$5.18
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
- QW · CLIA-waived test
- $5.18
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 82570 covers
Laboratories measure creatinine concentration in urine to assess kidney function and, in some clinical evaluations, muscle injury. Urine creatinine is also measured with urine albumin or protein when clinicians need a creatinine-normalized result, such as an albumin-to-creatinine or protein-to-creatinine ratio. Testing may use a spot urine specimen or a timed collection. This assay is distinct from a blood creatinine test and from a creatinine clearance study. Hospital, reference, and office laboratories perform the testing for clinicians evaluating renal function or interpreting urine analyte results.
Report 82570 for the urine creatinine assay, and report the albumin or protein assay separately when performed. A ratio does not itself create additional 82570 units; units reflect the assay performed. CMS lists a QW version for sites with a CLIA certificate of waiver. Medicare pays 82570 through the CLFS at one national amount in every locality, with no geographic or office/facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $5.18, unchanged since 2020; the test is paid only 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 82570
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 82570. 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 82570 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
CLIA-waived version (QW)
CMS also lists 82570 with modifier QW, the version labs holding a CLIA certificate of waiver bill. It pays $5.18.
82570 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
82570 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$5.18
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.
82570 compared with similar tests
- 82565CreatinineBlood specimen$5.12
- Use 82570 for urine creatinine and 82565 for creatinine measured in a non-urine specimen, commonly blood.
- 82575Creatinine clearanceTimed urine and serum$9.46
- 82575 reports a creatinine clearance study; 82570 reports urine creatinine concentration and is not the clearance study.
- 82540CreatineNot creatinine or CK$4.64
- 82540 measures creatine, a different analyte. 82570 measures creatinine in urine.
82570 billing questions
How is 82570 different from serum creatinine code 82565?
82570 is for creatinine measured in urine. Use 82565 for creatinine measured in a non-urine specimen, commonly blood.
Can 82570 be reported with urine albumin or protein testing?
Yes. Urine creatinine may be measured alongside albumin or protein to calculate a creatinine-normalized result; report the separate analyte assay under its own code.
When is modifier QW appropriate?
QW identifies the CLIA-waived version when the test is performed by a site holding a CLIA certificate of waiver.
Does a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio require multiple units of 82570?
No. The ratio itself does not create additional urine creatinine assay units; report the assay performed.
How does Medicare pay for 82570?
Medicare pays 82570 under the CLFS using one national amount across localities, with no office or facility difference. The test is paid only through the CLFS.
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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