CPT code 83970: Parathyroid hormone, blood hormone level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures parathyroid hormone in a blood specimen to evaluate abnormal calcium regulation, parathyroid disorders, or mineral-bone abnormalities in kidney disease.
Medicare pays $41.28 for 83970 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
$41.28
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 83970 covers
This laboratory test measures parathyroid hormone (PTH), a hormone involved in calcium regulation. It is commonly ordered when evaluating abnormal blood calcium, suspected hyperparathyroidism or hypoparathyroidism, and mineral-bone disorders associated with chronic kidney disease. A clinical laboratory performs the assay on a blood specimen, typically serum or plasma, and reports the result to the ordering clinician.
Report 83970 for the PTH assay itself; calcium and vitamin D tests are separate services when performed. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS, not the physician fee schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $41.28, unchanged since 2020. The same national amount applies in every state and locality, without a 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 83970
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 83970. 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 83970 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
83970 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
83970 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$41.28
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.
83970 compared with similar tests
- 82310Total calciumTotal, serum or plasma$5.16
- 82310 measures total calcium in blood. Use 83970 for the PTH hormone assay; the tests may be ordered together.
- 82330Calcium testIonized calcium$13.68
- 82330 measures ionized calcium, the biologically active calcium fraction. It does not measure PTH.
- 82306Vitamin D test25-hydroxy level$29.60
- 82306 measures 25-hydroxyvitamin D. It is a vitamin D test, not a parathyroid hormone assay.
- 83937OsteocalcinBone formation marker$29.85
- 83937 measures osteocalcin, a bone-related marker. Use 83970 when the laboratory measures PTH.
83970 billing questions
When should 83970 be reported instead of a calcium test?
Report 83970 for the PTH measurement. Calcium tests measure calcium concentration, so they answer a different question and are not substitutes for the hormone assay.
Can PTH and calcium tests be reported together?
Yes. PTH and calcium are distinct laboratory tests and are commonly ordered together when evaluating abnormal calcium regulation.
What does 83970 measure?
It measures parathyroid hormone (PTH) in a blood specimen.
Is 83970 paid under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays this test only through the CLFS.
How does Medicare price 83970?
Medicare pays one national CLFS amount for the code across all localities, with no office-versus-facility payment 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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