CPT code 84466: Transferrin, iron-binding protein level2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Measures transferrin, the blood protein that transports iron, as part of evaluating iron status and distinguishing causes of anemia.
Medicare pays $12.76 for 84466 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
$12.76
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 84466 covers
This assay measures transferrin, a blood protein that carries iron. It is commonly ordered as part of an iron-status evaluation, including workups for suspected iron deficiency or anemia of chronic disease. Hospital and independent laboratories perform the test, and clinicians interpret the result alongside other laboratory findings, often including serum iron, ferritin, and iron-binding capacity.
Report 84466 for a transferrin assay that was performed; it represents the transferrin measurement, not a panel of iron tests. Medicare pays it under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $12.76, unchanged since 2020; the same amount applies across localities, without an office or facility difference. The test is paid only from 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 84466
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 84466. 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 84466 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
84466 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
84466 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$12.76
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.
84466 compared with similar tests
- 83540Iron assaySerum iron concentration$6.47
- Use 83540 for a serum iron measurement. Use 84466 when the laboratory measures transferrin, the iron-transport protein.
- 83550Iron bindingBinding capacity$8.74
- Use 83550 for iron-binding capacity rather than a direct transferrin assay. These are related but distinct laboratory measurements.
- 82728FerritinBlood ferritin level$13.63
- Use 82728 for ferritin, which reflects iron storage; use 84466 for the transferrin level.
84466 billing questions
How is transferrin different from total iron-binding capacity?
Transferrin is the measured iron-transport protein. Total iron-binding capacity is a separate test of the blood’s capacity to bind iron; use the code for the test actually performed.
Can 84466 be reported with serum iron or ferritin?
Yes, when those tests are also performed and ordered. Transferrin, serum iron, and ferritin are distinct measurements often considered together in an iron-status evaluation.
Does 84466 include a serum iron measurement?
No. It reports the transferrin assay only; report a serum iron test separately when performed.
How does Medicare pay for 84466?
Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount for all localities, with no office or facility difference. It is paid only from 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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