Medicaid Therapy Rates by Clinician Credential

The same therapy session can pay differently depending on who renders it. 9 states publish that ladder directly on their fee schedules with credential-level modifiers; this page lays the published tiers side by side. Most states publish one rate per code, and that finding is part of the answer.

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90791: Psychiatric diagnostic evaluation, no medical services

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
Louisiana--$21.68$10.00$10.00----$142.09
Massachusetts--$143.48$130.48------$128.70
Missouri--$177.45--$133.09----$160.00
South Carolina--$236.92$162.27------$117.29
Wisconsin$155.80--$116.85------$116.85

90832: Psychotherapy, 30 minutes

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
Louisiana--$9.53$10.00$10.00----$64.72
Massachusetts--$59.16$52.20------$55.55
Missouri--$77.20--$57.90----$69.48
South Carolina--$78.08$47.26------$53.38
Wisconsin$75.94--$56.96------$56.96

90834: Psychotherapy, 45 minutes

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
Louisiana--$13.42$10.00$10.00----$85.36
Massachusetts--$95.89$95.46------$73.46
Missouri--$101.90--$76.43----$160.00
South Carolina--$156.18$62.90------$70.42
Wisconsin$112.53--$90.04------$75.67

90837: Psychotherapy, 60 minutes

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
Louisiana--$19.76$10.00$10.00----$125.86
Massachusetts--$127.53$125.69------$108.09
Missouri--$149.68--$112.26----$160.00
South Carolina--$208.24$94.42------$103.83
Wisconsin$168.80--$135.06------$113.43

90846: Family psychotherapy without the patient, 50 minutes

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
District of Columbia--$35.00--$35.00----$90.65
Louisiana--$10.00$10.00$10.00----$81.69
Massachusetts--$101.43$101.43------$69.54
Missouri--$97.65--$73.24----$160.00
South Carolina$432.83$224.09$75.99------$67.12
Wisconsin$121.95--$91.46------$77.49

90847: Family psychotherapy with the patient, 50 minutes

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
District of Columbia--$35.00--$35.00----$93.74
Louisiana--$10.00$10.00$10.00----$90.43
Massachusetts--$101.43$101.43------$72.52
Missouri--$101.11--$75.83----$160.00
South Carolina$79.01$224.09$79.01--$79.01--$70.31
Wisconsin$126.69--$95.02------$80.83

90853: Group psychotherapy

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
Louisiana--$4.41$10.00$10.00----$25.68
Massachusetts--$35.86$33.12------$19.67
Missouri--$27.11--$20.33----$91.58
South Carolina$18.88$34.71$18.88--$18.88--$18.83
Wisconsin$56.22--$45.02------$28.00

H0004: Behavioral health counseling and therapy, per 15 minutes

StateDoctoral levelClinical psychologistMaster's levelClinical social workerBachelor's levelBelow bachelor'sUntiered rate
Arizona----$45.52--$45.52--$45.52
Louisiana--$10.00$10.00$10.00----$10.00
Maine--$33.52$27.16--$25.14$20.85$33.52
Washington--------$31.07--$31.07
Wisconsin$37.81--$28.36--$21.27$15.95$15.95

Published Medicaid fee-for-service schedule amounts, not a coverage or eligibility guarantee. Managed-care plan rates can differ. Where no prior-authorization flag is shown, the state does not publish one. "--" means the state publishes no rate for that credential tier on this code. The untiered column is the state's bare published rate for the code where one exists. Procedure descriptions are ProviderSignal's own plain-language labels.

Frequently asked questions

Do Medicaid therapy rates differ by clinician credential?

In 9 states, yes, and the schedules say so directly: those states publish separate rates for the same psychotherapy code by credential-level modifier (doctoral, psychologist, master's, social worker, bachelor's). Most other states publish one rate per code regardless of who renders it, and several tier through state-defined modifiers whose meanings are not comparable across states.

How much less does Medicaid pay a master's-level therapist than a psychologist?

It depends on the state and code; the tables on this page show the published ladder side by side. Where states tier, master's-level rates commonly land meaningfully below the psychologist or doctoral rate for the identical session, which is exactly why the credential mix of a practice shapes its Medicaid economics.

Why are so few states shown?

Because most states do not publish credential-tiered rates on standard procedure codes. Some pay one rate for the code, some tier through state-defined U-modifiers that cannot be honestly pooled across states, and some run behavioral health entirely through managed care. This page shows every state that publishes a comparable ladder, and nothing else.