What doctoral-level psychologists report being paid

Doctoral-level psychologists reported 71 rates. The median 90837 was $148 across 43 reports, with a range of $90 to $284. That is $34 above the $114 median LPC / LMHC reports for the same code across 271 reports. The two samples draw on a different mix of payers, states, and routes, so part of the gap likely reflects those differences rather than license alone.

Reported 90837: median $148, range $90–$284, middle half $127–$184, about 89% of the 2026 national Medicare reference for a psychologist or psychiatrist (43 reports · 71 across all CPTs · updated 2026-10-20)

The same code at every license level

Payers set a fee schedule per code, and several of them also set it per license level. The table below pools every report on this site for CPT 90837 and splits it by the reporting clinician's license.

License	Median	Range	Reports
LPC/LMHC	$114	$60–$201	271
LCSW	$112	$60–$210	233
LMFT	$113	$73–$210	67
PhD/PsyD	$148	$90–$284	43
LCPC/LPCC/LCMHC	$111	$70–$175	27
Pre-licensed	$60	$49–$158	3
MD/DO	$136	$109–$163	2

PhD / PsyD 90837 by payer

Payer	Median	Range	Reports
Aetna	$160	$124–$251	14
BCBS	$164	$122–$284	13
Optum / UHC	$134	$116–$162	6
Cigna	$135	$111–$270	3
All payers (flat)	$90	$90–$90	3
EAP	$185	single report	1
Moda	$183	single report	1
Premera	$140	single report	1

PhD / PsyD 90837 by route

Route	Median	Range	Reports
Direct contract	$159	$111–$284	24
Headway	$158	$125–$196	10
Alma	$138	$127–$143	4
Rula	$90	$90–$90	3
Lyra Health	$185	single report	1
Marvin	$95	single report	1

PhD / PsyD 90837 by state

State	Median	Range	Reports
Arizona	$138	$111–$163	7
California	$153	$90–$270	6
New Jersey	$164	$95–$170	5
Massachusetts	$185	$90–$186	4
Oregon	$165	$135–$183	3
Washington	$152	$140–$185	3
Wisconsin	$138	$127–$143	3

PhD / PsyD by CPT code

CPT code	Median	Range	Reports
90837 (60 min)	$148	$90–$284	43
90834 (45 min)	$135	$80–$232	11
90791 (intake)	$178	$143–$286	10
90839 (crisis, first 60 min)	$235	$206–$264	2
90832 (30 min)	$103	$80–$126	2

All 71 PhD / PsyD reports

Route	Payer	St	CPT	Rate	Effective	Note / source
Rula	All payers (flat)	CA	90837 (60 min)	$90	October 2026	submitted
Alma	BCBS	WI	90837 (60 min)	$127	October 2026	submitted
Alma	Cigna	WI	90834 (45 min)	$86	October 2026	submitted
Alma	Optum / UHC	WI	90837 (60 min)	$143.06	October 2026	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	TX	90837 (60 min)	$127.81	October 2026	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	AR	90791 (intake)	$211.18	October 2026	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	AR	90837 (60 min)	$199.43	October 2026	submitted
Headway	Aetna	CA	90834 (45 min)	$136	October 2026	submitted
Headway	Aetna	NV	90834 (45 min)	$121	October 2026	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	MA	90834 (45 min)	$135.41	October 2026	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	MA	90837 (60 min)	$186	October 2026	submitted
Direct contract	Optum / UHC	IL	90837 (60 min)	$125	September 2026	submitted
Group Practice	Kaiser	WA	90791 (intake)	$184	September 2026	submitted
Group Practice	Aetna	WA	90791 (intake)	$143	September 2026	submitted
Alma	Aetna	—	90837 (60 min)	cut	August 2026	REPORTED RATE CHANGE, amount varies by contract: an initial notice proposed July 15, 2026 equalization of 90834/90837 and degree rates. A July 9 community reproduction of a revised Alma notice says code and degree differentials remain, with reductions effective August 15, 2026. The revised notice has not been verified against a public company source; consult your own schedule. No dollar amount is recorded for this notice. source
Marvin	—	NJ	90837 (60 min)	$95	August 2026	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	NJ	90837 (60 min)	$170.48	August 2026	submitted
Alma	Aetna	NY	90837 (60 min)	$138	August 2026	Was cut from $201 submitted
Alma	Aetna	WI	90837 (60 min)	$138	August 2026	Cut from $180.31 submitted
Headway	Aetna	MA	90837 (60 min)	$185	June 2026	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	NJ	90791 (intake)	$172.58	May 2026	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	NJ	90837 (60 min)	$148.12	May 2026	submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	OR	90837 (60 min)	$135	May 2026	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	OR	90837 (60 min)	$165	May 2026	submitted
Direct contract	Moda	OR	90837 (60 min)	$183	May 2026	submitted
Headway	Aetna	NY	90837 (60 min)	$185	January 2026	NYC, virtual only source
Rula	All payers (flat)	CA	90837 (60 min)	$90	December 2025	Rula pays a flat per-session rate regardless of payer. source
Direct contract	Aetna	AZ	90837 (60 min)	$137.75	October 2025	decreased $2 on 2025-10-15; BCBS AZ $122.03 source
Direct contract	Optum / UHC	MD	90837 (60 min)	$115.82	September 2025	United Behavioral Health/Optum, Baltimore area source
Direct contract	BCBS	MA	90834 (45 min)	$135.19	September 2025	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90837 (60 min)	$157.04	August 2025	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90834 (45 min)	$120	August 2025	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90791 (intake)	$165	August 2025	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	NJ	90837 (60 min)	$164.28	August 2025	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	NE	90837 (60 min)	$284.19	July 2025	Increased from 277 last July submitted
Alma	Optum / UHC	RI	90834 (45 min)	$108.35	July 2025	submitted
Alma	Optum / UHC	RI	90791 (intake)	$143.06	July 2025	submitted
Direct contract	Optum / UHC	DC	90837 (60 min)	$161.78	July 2025	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	IN	90791 (intake)	$227	May 2025	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	IL	90837 (60 min)	$191	May 2025	submitted
Rula	All payers (flat)	MA	90837 (60 min)	$90	January 2025	submitted
Headway	Aetna	PA	90837 (60 min)	$143	January 2025	submitted
Headway	Aetna	WA	90837 (60 min)	$185	October 2024	submitted
Headway	Premera	WA	90837 (60 min)	$140	October 2024	submitted
Headway	BCBS	WA	90837 (60 min)	$152.27	October 2024	submitted
Headway	Aetna	GA	90837 (60 min)	$196.24	August 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	GA	90837 (60 min)	$124	August 2024	submitted
Headway	Aetna	NY	90834 (45 min)	$161	August 2024	submitted
Rula	All payers (flat)	CA	90834 (45 min)	$80	July 2024	submitted
Lyra Health	EAP	MA	90837 (60 min)	$185	June 2024	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	CA	90837 (60 min)	$148.46	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90791 (intake)	$264	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90832 (30 min)	$126.14	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90834 (45 min)	$176	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90837 (60 min)	$251.26	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90839 (crisis, first 60 min)	$264	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Aetna	CA	90846 (family, no client)	$208	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	CA	90791 (intake)	$286.34	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	CA	90832 (30 min)	$80.34	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	CA	90834 (45 min)	$231.75	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	CA	90837 (60 min)	$269.86	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	CA	90839 (crisis, first 60 min)	$206	January 2024	submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	CA	90847 (family, with client)	$269.86	January 2024	submitted
Headway	BCBS	AZ	90837 (60 min)	$140	August 2023	submitted
Headway	Aetna	AZ	90837 (60 min)	$163	August 2023	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	AZ	90837 (60 min)	$122	August 2023	submitted
Direct contract	Optum / UHC	AZ	90837 (60 min)	$147	August 2023	submitted
Headway	Optum / UHC	AZ	90837 (60 min)	$125	August 2023	submitted
Direct contract	BCBS	NJ	90837 (60 min)	$164.71	August 2022	submitted
Lyra Health	—	CO	90791 (intake)	$145	January 2022	For initial assessment sessions as well as follow ups. Same rate for individual and couples. No penalty for shortened sessions. submitted
Direct contract	Cigna	AZ	90837 (60 min)	$111	July 2021	submitted

Limitations

These figures have three limitations. First, every rate is self-reported and unverified. Second, the sample is self-selected: 14% of all reports come from California. Third, license is missing on 66 of 943 rows. These per-license reports describe this sample; additional reports can change the median and widen the range. How this data is collected and checked.

Add your PhD / PsyD rate See these rows in the full table