CPT code 84156: Urine protein, total protein2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures total protein in a urine specimen, supporting evaluation of proteinuria and kidney disorders when a clinician orders urine protein testing.
Medicare pays $3.67 for 84156 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
$3.67
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 84156 covers
This assay measures total protein in urine. Clinicians commonly order it when evaluating proteinuria or kidney disorders, and clinical laboratories perform and report the test from a urine specimen. It measures total protein rather than separating individual protein fractions, as urine protein electrophoresis does.
Report 84156 for the urine total-protein assay; use a different code when the specimen source or testing method calls for it. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS, with one national amount across localities and no office-versus-facility difference. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $3.67, unchanged since 2020. The code is excluded from the physician fee schedule by statute and 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 84156
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 84156. 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 84156 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
84156 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
84156 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$3.67
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.
84156 compared with similar tests
- 84155Total proteinSerum, plasma, or whole blood$3.67
- 84155 is for total protein in serum; 84156 is for total protein in urine.
- 84157Body fluid proteinNon-serum, non-urine sources$4.00
- 84157 covers total protein from another specimen source, while 84156 identifies urine.
- 84160Total proteinRefractometry, any source$5.61
- 84160 is the refractometry method for total protein from any source. 84156 is the urine assay using a method other than refractometry.
- 84166Protein electrophoresisUrine or CSF$17.83
- 84166 evaluates protein fractions by electrophoresis in urine or cerebrospinal fluid; 84156 measures total urine protein.
84156 billing questions
When should 84156 be selected instead of 84155?
Use 84156 for total protein measured in urine. Code 84155 identifies total protein in serum.
Is urine protein electrophoresis reported as 84156?
No. 84156 measures total urine protein; 84166 is for protein electrophoresis of urine or cerebrospinal fluid.
When does 84157 apply instead?
Use 84157 for total protein from a source other than urine or serum. The specimen source distinguishes it from 84156.
Does Medicare pay 84156 through the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 84156 only through the CLFS, at one national amount that applies across localities and settings.
Does 84156 identify a refractometry assay?
No. 84156 is for urine total protein measured by a method other than refractometry. Code 84160 identifies total protein by refractometry.
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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