Uric Acid Test Cost and Medicare Coverage (CPT 84550)

Also called: serum uric acid · serum urate · urate level · gout blood test — all the same test, CPT 84550.

No test-specific policy — general Medicare medical-necessity rules apply what's this?

Medicare has no national or regional policy written for this specific test. The general standard applies instead: it’s covered when your doctor orders it for a medical reason — evaluating symptoms, or monitoring a condition or medication — and not as routine screening.

Does Medicare cover it?: Yes — covered — such as gout, suspected or being treated, kidney stones, kidney disease, chemotherapy monitoring, a medication that raises uric acid (examples only; details below)
You pay if covered: $0 — no deductible, no coinsurance
Medicare pays the lab: $4.52
Information verified: 2026-09-27

Buy it yourself — what you'd really pay

Where	Test price	Fee	Total
Jason Health jasonhealth.com	$5	$18 one fee per order — covers every test on it	$23
Ulta Lab Tests ultalabtests.com Partner link — we earn a commission if you order. No extra cost to you.	$19.95	$12.95 draw fee — one per order, covers every test on it	$32.90
Quest questhealth.com · sold as the "Gout (Uric Acid) Test"	$42	$6 physician service fee	$48
Labcorp ondemand.labcorp.com	$49	—	$49
Personalabs personalabs.com · price includes the draw; not a partner — we earn nothing from this row	$49.70	—	$49.70

Disclosure: the Ulta Lab Tests link above is a partner link. If you order through it, ClaraCover earns a commission. It costs you nothing extra, and it never changes what we tell you about Medicare coverage.

The short answer

Yes, when your doctor orders it for a medical reason, and there is no special policy to trip over. Uric acid is not one of the 23 lab tests Medicare governs with a national coverage rule, and we found no regional policy or diagnosis-code list for it either. The general rule applies: the test has to be reasonable and necessary to diagnose or treat a condition. Gout, kidney stones, kidney disease, and monitoring during chemotherapy all satisfy that easily. Quest’s own test directory, which flags many tests as “subject to a Medicare Limited Coverage Policy,” shows no such flag on uric acid. Medicare pays the lab $4.52; you pay nothing.

When Medicare DOES cover it

With no code list, coverage rests on the reason on the order. The reasons the lab directories and MedlinePlus name:

Gout: diagnosing it (usually alongside a joint-fluid test) and monitoring urate-lowering treatment
Kidney stones: checking whether high uric acid is the cause, and stone risk in people with gout
Kidney disease and kidney failure
Cancer treatment: uric acid rises when cancer cells break down quickly, so it is checked before and during chemotherapy
Other conditions the labs list: leukemia, psoriasis, and starvation or wasting conditions
Medications: some drugs raise uric acid, and a level may be checked when one is started or adjusted

When Medicare does NOT cover it

Pure routine screening, a uric acid test on a wellness panel with no symptom, condition, or medication behind it. Under the general rule this is the rare exception, not the norm.
As a heart-risk marker. The one Medicare policy that mentions uric acid at all is a regional rule on cardiovascular risk panels (Medicare contractor WPS, LCD L36523), and it lists uric acid as a non-covered marker for that purpose, saying the evidence that it changes treatment is inadequate. That policy is about heart-risk panels, not gout or kidney stones.

(Never ask anyone to change a code just to get coverage; that is fraud. But doctors often have a legitimate reason for the test that simply wasn’t written down.)

What you pay if it IS covered: $0

Covered lab tests cost Medicare patients nothing, with no deductible and no 20% coinsurance. Medicare pays the lab $4.52 for a uric acid test, and you owe zero.

What you pay if it is NOT covered

An Advance Beneficiary Notice for this test on its own would be unusual, since no limited-coverage policy applies. If you are asked to sign one for a panel that includes it:

Ask the lab to print exactly what you would owe. For perspective: when Medicare covers this exact test, it pays the lab $4.52. It is one of the cheapest tests a lab runs.
Know the direct prices: uric acid sells for $5 at Jason Health (jasonhealth.com, plus their flat $18 lab-collection fee per order), $42 at Quest’s consumer site (questhealth.com, plus a $6 physician fee), and $49 at Labcorp OnDemand. The full table is above. Same certified labs, same blood draw.

What counts as a “normal” uric acid level

Start with the range printed on your own report, but this is one of the tests where a named medical body has published a treatment target, so there are two kinds of number to know.

Reference ranges (what a lab considers usual for healthy people):

The MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia gives 3.0 to 7.1 mg/dL for women and 4.0 to 8.6 mg/dL for men, and says “normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories.”
Labcorp’s reference interval is 3.8 to 8.4 mg/dL for men 18 and over, and for women 2.6 to 6.2 (18 to 50), 3.0 to 7.2 (51 to 70), and 3.1 to 7.9 (71 and over).

Clinical target (what treatment aims for, in people who have gout):

The American College of Rheumatology’s 2020 gout guideline recommends treating to a serum urate level of less than 6 mg/dL for people on urate-lowering therapy. Labcorp prints the same target on its report (“therapeutic target for gout: <6.0”), and MedlinePlus notes targets of below 6 or 5 mg/dL.
Cleveland Clinic explains why the target sits below the top of the reference range: above about 6.8 mg/dL, uric acid can leave the bloodstream and settle in joints, tendons, and under the skin.

So a result that is “normal” by the lab’s range can still be above the treatment target for someone with gout. That is a conversation for your doctor, not a reading you can make from the number alone.

(Where lab ranges and “optimal” ranges come from, and who decides.)

This page can tell you where those numbers came from. It cannot tell you what yours means; that reading belongs to your doctor, alongside your symptoms and your other results.

Quick questions people ask

What is a uric acid test? A blood test that measures uric acid, a waste product from the breakdown of purines in food and in your own cells. Too much of it can form crystals in joints (gout) or in the kidneys (stones). High levels happen when the body makes too much or the kidneys clear too little. On billing paperwork it is CPT code 84550.

Does a high uric acid level mean I have gout? Not by itself. MedlinePlus says a high result “doesn’t always mean you have a condition that needs treatment,” and Labcorp’s directory says the same: elevated uric acid alone does not establish gout. Diagnosing gout usually involves symptoms and, often, a joint-fluid test.

Do you have to fast for a uric acid test? Ask. The MedlinePlus encyclopedia says not to eat or drink for four hours before the test unless told otherwise; Quest’s directory lists no preparation. Tell your doctor about every medicine you take, since aspirin, niacin, and others affect the result, and do not stop any medicine on your own. Our fasting guide explains what fasting means and what you can still drink.

How long does a uric acid test take? The blood draw takes minutes, and results are typically back in one to two business days, direct-purchase orders included.

Sources and data dates

Medicare payment amount: CMS Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, 2026 Q3 file (national rate). Coverage: no national or local coverage determination applies to CPT 84550 (checked in the CMS Medicare Coverage Database, September 2026); the general reasonable-and-necessary rule in the Social Security Act and the Medicare Program Integrity Manual, Chapter 3, governs. Test descriptions and ranges: MedlinePlus (lab-tests page and Medical Encyclopedia), Labcorp test 001057, Quest test 905. Treatment target: American College of Rheumatology 2020 gout guideline. Consumer prices checked September 2026. Information current as of the date shown above; coverage is always determined by Medicare when your claim is processed.

ClaraCover provides information, not medical, billing, or insurance advice. Talk to your doctor about what tests you need.

Covered diagnoses for CPT 84550

There is no national diagnosis list for CPT 84550. Coverage follows the general "reasonable and necessary" standard and any local coverage determination your Medicare contractor has written, as this page describes; the diagnosis on the order still has to support the test.

Billing office? The full list, a batch check, and no daily limit are what we are building for you: tell us you want it. For why lab tests are the one place Medicare gives a straight answer, see what "reasonable and necessary" means.