CPT code 84134: Prealbumin, transthyretin protein level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures prealbumin (transthyretin) to support nutritional assessment and monitoring of nutritional support when this specific protein assay is performed.
Medicare pays $14.59 for 84134 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
$14.59
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 7 sections
What 84134 covers
Prealbumin, also called transthyretin, is a circulating protein measured in a laboratory assay. Clinicians may order it during nutritional assessment or to monitor nutritional support. A prealbumin result can also change with inflammation and liver disease, so it is interpreted with the patient’s clinical condition and other findings. The test is typically performed on serum and reported by a clinical laboratory for an ordering clinician. It measures prealbumin itself, not total protein or albumin.
Report 84134 for the prealbumin assay. It is distinct from serum and urine protein assays, which measure protein in different specimen categories. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS only. CMS sets one national amount per code, applied in every state and locality, without geographic adjustment or an office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $14.59, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. The test is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute.
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 84134
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 84134. 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 84134 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
84134 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
84134 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$14.59
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.
84134 compared with similar tests
- 84155Total proteinSerum, plasma, or whole blood$3.67
- Use 84134 for prealbumin (transthyretin). Code 84155 describes a protein assay in serum.
- 84156Urine proteinTotal protein$3.67
- Use 84134 for prealbumin. Code 84156 describes a protein assay in urine.
- 84160Total proteinRefractometry, any source$5.61
- Use 84134 when the analyte is prealbumin. Code 84160 describes a protein assay for any source.
84134 billing questions
When should this code be used instead of a serum protein code?
Use 84134 when the assay measures prealbumin (transthyretin). Code 84155 describes a protein assay in serum.
Does this code describe a panel?
No. It describes a prealbumin assay, not a panel or a count of protein fractions.
What specimen is typically tested?
Prealbumin is typically measured in serum.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS, with one national amount that applies across localities and in office and facility settings.
Can prealbumin be interpreted as a nutrition measure by itself?
Inflammation and liver disease can also affect the result. It is interpreted with the patient’s clinical condition and other findings.
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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