CPT code 84585: Urine VMA, catecholamine metabolite2026 Medicare lab fee · Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
Urine VMA testing measures a catecholamine breakdown product and is reported when clinicians evaluate suspected pheochromocytoma or neuroblastoma.
Medicare pays $15.50 for 84585 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
$15.50
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 84585 covers
This assay measures vanillylmandelic acid (VMA), a catecholamine breakdown product, in urine. Clinicians use the result when evaluating suspected catecholamine-producing tumors, including pheochromocytoma and neuroblastoma. The measured analyte distinguishes this test from assays of catecholamines themselves or metanephrines. Clinical laboratories perform and report the assay ordered by treating clinicians.
Report 84585 for urine VMA testing. Medicare pays the test through the CLFS at one national amount applicable across localities, without geographic or office-versus-facility adjustment. The 2026 national CLFS amount is $15.50, unchanged from 2020 through 2026. Medicare payment for this test is through the CLFS rather than the physician fee schedule.
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 84585
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 84585. 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 84585 with status X (excluded by statute), so the test itself is paid only from the CLFS.
84585 on the lab fee schedule since 2020
84585 · CLFS 2026 Q4 (current)
$15.50
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.
84585 compared with similar tests
- 83835MetanephrinesCatecholamine metabolites$16.94
- Use 84585 for urine VMA and 83835 for metanephrines. These are distinct analytes, even when ordered to investigate a similar clinical concern.
- 82384Catecholamine assayThree analytes, fractionated$25.25
- Code 82384 measures catecholamines; 84585 measures their metabolite VMA. The analyte tested determines the code.
- 84580Urine urobilinogenTimed urine collection$9.55
- Code 84580 is a urine urobilinogen assay, not a VMA test. The similar code numbers do not indicate the same analyte.
84585 billing questions
When should 84585 be reported instead of a urine metanephrine assay?
Report 84585 when the laboratory measures urine VMA. A metanephrine assay measures different analytes and is reported with its own code.
Is VMA the same test as urine catecholamines?
No. VMA is a catecholamine breakdown product; a urine catecholamine assay measures catecholamines themselves. A clinician may order both during an evaluation.
What documentation supports reporting 84585?
The order and laboratory record should identify urine VMA as the measured analyte and connect the test to the patient's evaluation.
Does Medicare pay 84585 under the physician fee schedule?
No. Medicare pays 84585 through the CLFS at one national amount across localities, without an office-versus-facility adjustment.
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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