Guides

Reading the numbers

Plain-language guides to what the reported rates show: what a 90837 pays, how the platforms compare on the same session, where license and geography move the number, and what Medicare's fee schedule sets as the public benchmark. Every figure comes from the rate table or a linked primary source.

• What is a normal reimbursement rate for a 90837?Therapists report a median of $114 for CPT 90837 across 202 reports, with the middle half between $99 and $130. The same code by license, payer, route, and state, and how to read an offer against it.
• What Headway, Alma, and Grow Therapy each pay for the same sessionHolding the payer constant, therapists report Headway and Alma paying within a few dollars of each other for a 90837, and Grow Therapy lower on a small sample. Aetna, Optum, and Cigna compared, with what each platform holds back.
• Do counselors get paid less than social workers? What 143 reports showLicensed counselors report a median 90837 rate of $110 and clinical social workers $117, a gap that disappears or reverses inside each payer. Where the difference is real (Medicare) and where it is geography.
• Medicare therapist reimbursement rates for 2026 by CPT codeMedicare's 2026 national non-facility rate for a 90837 is $167.00, paid at 75% ($125.25) to clinical social workers, counselors, and marriage and family therapists. All seven psychotherapy codes, the 2025-to-2026 change, and the locality adjustment, from CMS sources.