CPT code 84270: SHBG assay, binding protein level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures the sex hormone-binding protein used in androgen evaluation, often with testosterone testing when altered binding may affect interpretation.
Medicare pays $21.73 for 84270 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
$21.73
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 84270 covers
The assay measures sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), a circulating protein that binds sex hormones and affects how much hormone is available in unbound form. Clinicians may order it when assessing androgen status, including evaluation of hirsutism or suspected polycystic ovary syndrome, or when interpreting testosterone results in a patient with possible changes in hormone binding. Endocrinology, gynecology, urology, and primary care practices may order the test, with a clinical laboratory performing the assay.
Report the assay when SHBG is measured; it is distinct from a testosterone measurement and does not itself measure free testosterone. SHBG may be ordered with total testosterone and albumin when calculating an estimate of free testosterone. Medicare pays this test through the CLFS only. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $21.73, unchanged since 2020; the same amount applies across localities, without an office or 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 84270
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 84270. 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 84270 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
84270 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
84270 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$21.73
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.
84270 compared with similar tests
- 84403TestosteroneTotal hormone level$25.81
- Use this code for a total testosterone assay. SHBG measures the binding protein, not testosterone itself.
- 84402Free testosteroneUnbound hormone fraction$25.47
- Use this code when free testosterone is directly measured. SHBG is a separate protein assay and may contribute to a calculated estimate.
- 84233Estrogen receptorTumor receptor analysis$87.88
- This code is for an estrogen assay. SHBG measures a hormone-binding protein rather than an estrogen level.
84270 billing questions
How is this different from a free testosterone test?
This assay measures SHBG, a hormone-binding protein; it does not directly measure free testosterone. SHBG can be used with other laboratory results to calculate an estimate of free testosterone.
Can SHBG and total testosterone be reported together?
Yes, when both assays are performed. They measure different analytes, and total testosterone may be paired with SHBG and albumin to estimate free testosterone.
How many units should be reported?
Report the assay performed for the patient. Do not count the testosterone or albumin results as additional units of the SHBG assay.
How does Medicare pay for this test?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS only, at one national amount that applies across localities and does not vary between office and facility settings.
What should the medical record support?
Document the clinical reason for evaluating SHBG, such as an androgen-status assessment, and the associated laboratory results when they inform interpretation.
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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