CPT code 84482: Reverse T3, reverse triiodothyronine2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Reverse T3 testing measures an inactive thyroid hormone form and is reported when clinicians evaluate altered thyroid hormone metabolism.
Medicare pays $15.76 for 84482 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
$15.76
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 84482 covers
This assay measures reverse triiodothyronine, an inactive form produced during thyroid hormone metabolism. Clinicians may order it when evaluating altered hormone conversion, including selected cases of severe illness or thyroid results that are difficult to interpret alongside other tests. Clinical laboratories perform the assay, which endocrinologists and other clinicians may request as part of a focused thyroid assessment.
Report 84482 for the reverse T3 assay performed. It measures a different thyroid hormone form from total or free T3, so choose the code based on the analyte measured. Medicare pays this test only through the CLFS. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $15.76 and has remained unchanged since 2020. One amount applies across states and localities, without geographic or office/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 84482
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 84482. 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 84482 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
84482 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
84482 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$15.76
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.
84482 compared with similar tests
- 84480Total T3Total hormone measurement$14.18
- Use 84480 for total T3 measurement. Use 84482 when the laboratory measures reverse T3, a different form of the hormone.
- 84481Free T3Unbound T3 measurement$16.94
- 84481 measures free T3; 84482 measures reverse T3. Choose according to the assay performed, not simply the general thyroid-testing purpose.
- 84443TSH testThyroid-stimulating hormone$16.80
- 84443 measures thyroid-stimulating hormone, not a thyroid hormone form. It may be part of the same assessment, but it is not a substitute for reverse T3.
- 84479Thyroid uptakeUptake or binding ratio$6.47
- 84479 reports a thyroid hormone uptake test, rather than measurement of reverse T3. Select 84482 only when reverse T3 is the analyte tested.
84482 billing questions
How is 84482 different from total T3 or free T3 testing?
84482 measures reverse T3, an inactive form of thyroid hormone. Codes 84480 and 84481 measure total T3 and free T3, respectively.
Is reverse T3 a routine thyroid-function test?
It is ordered for selected evaluations of thyroid hormone metabolism or difficult-to-interpret thyroid findings, rather than as a routine thyroid test.
What should support reporting 84482?
The laboratory record should identify a reverse T3 assay, and the clinical documentation should support the provider’s reason for ordering this focused thyroid test.
How does Medicare pay for 84482?
Medicare pays it through the CLFS at one national amount per code across localities and settings.
Should 84482 be reported instead of a free T3 test?
Report the assay that was performed: reverse T3 is distinct from free T3, reported with 84481.
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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