CPT code 92555: Speech audiometry, threshold only2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $29.73 for 92555 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $25.42–$42.56.

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 92555 covers

An audiologist typically presents speech materials, often spondee words, at varying loudness levels to determine the patient’s speech reception threshold. The test helps characterize hearing and compare speech responses with pure-tone findings. It is performed in outpatient audiology and otolaryngology settings, generally as part of a diagnostic hearing evaluation.

Select this code when the service measures speech threshold without the additional speech-recognition testing represented by broader speech-audiometry services. Document the test performed and the resulting threshold for each ear. CMS identifies this as a technical-component-only code; a separate code represents interpretation when furnished and supported. The code is priced as bilateral, so modifier 50 does not increase payment. Choose a comprehensive audiometry code when the encounter includes the broader set of measures described by that code rather than reporting this threshold test as though it covered them.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 92555 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

92555 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 92555 rate is calculated

Each of 92555’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 92555

The CMS indicators that decide how 92555 is paid alongside other services.

92555 compared with similar codes

How to choose

92556Speech audiometryWith speech recognition

92555 captures speech-threshold testing alone; 92556 also includes speech-recognition testing.

92557Comprehensive hearing testAir, bone, and speech testing

92557 describes a comprehensive audiometry evaluation with pure-tone thresholds and speech measures, rather than speech-threshold testing alone.

92553AudiometryAir and bone thresholds

92553 measures pure-tone thresholds using air and bone conduction. It does not represent the speech-threshold measurement reported with 92555.

92551Hearing screeningPure tone, air only

92551 is a pure-tone hearing screening service; 92555 is diagnostic speech-threshold testing.

Codes related to 92555

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates