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Procedure price report · Psychological and psychiatric evaluation and therapy

Psychotherapy session, about 45 minutes

CPT 90834the billing code this page is about

One individual talk therapy session lasting roughly 45 minutes (38 to 52 minutes), with the patient and family member if present; each session is billed separately.

Hospitals typically charge $192 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,950 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $203. Most fall between $107 and $327 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,950
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 1,950 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$78$123$192$304$484

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($78 vs $484).

How the prices are spread

$60 – $76: 79 hospitals$60$76 – $95: 107 hospitals$95 – $120: 190 hospitals$95$120 – $151: 213 hospitals$151 – $191: 287 hospitals$151$191 – $240: 247 hospitals$240 – $303: 240 hospitals$240$303 – $381: 212 hospitals$381 – $481: 83 hospitals$381$481 – $606: 100 hospitals$481median $192price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,758 of 1,950 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$60$7679
$76$95107
$95$120190
$120$151213
$151$191287
$191$240247
$240$303240
$303$381212
$381$48183
$481$606100

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$181
Median cash price$192
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.06×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $192.

Alaska: median $184 across 12 hospitalsAK$184Maine: median $166 across 19 hospitalsME$166Vermont: median $150 across 10 hospitalsVT$150New Hampshire: median $108 across 16 hospitalsNH$108Washington: median $206 across 51 hospitalsWA$206Idaho: median $237 across 13 hospitalsID$237Montana: median $126 across 22 hospitalsMT$126North Dakota: median $301 across 16 hospitalsND$301Minnesota: median $151 across 68 hospitalsMN$151Illinois: median $180 across 81 hospitalsIL$180Wisconsin: median $142 across 70 hospitalsWI$142Michigan: median $160 across 74 hospitalsMI$160New York: median $262 across 101 hospitalsNY$262Massachusetts: median $266 across 41 hospitalsMA$266Oregon: median $177 across 40 hospitalsOR$177Nevada: median $340 across 15 hospitalsNV$340Wyoming: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $234 across 15 hospitalsSD$234Iowa: median $193 across 68 hospitalsIA$193Indiana: median $138 across 58 hospitalsIN$138Ohio: median $267 across 87 hospitalsOH$267Pennsylvania: median $194 across 68 hospitalsPA$194New Jersey: median $189 across 47 hospitalsNJ$189Connecticut: median $214 across 20 hospitalsCT$214Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $318 across 117 hospitalsCA$318Utah: median $249 across 28 hospitalsUT$249Colorado: median $206 across 33 hospitalsCO$206Nebraska: median $190 across 49 hospitalsNE$190Missouri: median $151 across 37 hospitalsMO$151Kentucky: median $154 across 33 hospitalsKY$154West Virginia: median $149 across 28 hospitalsWV$149Virginia: median $207 across 44 hospitalsVA$207Maryland: median $221 across 26 hospitalsMD$221Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $176 across 14 hospitalsAZ$176New Mexico: median $170 across 13 hospitalsNM$170Kansas: median $126 across 40 hospitalsKS$126Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $61 across 29 hospitalsTN$61North Carolina: median $123 across 46 hospitalsNC$123South Carolina: median $273 across 30 hospitalsSC$273Oklahoma: median $210 across 32 hospitalsOK$210Louisiana: median $112 across 31 hospitalsLA$112Mississippi: median $119 across 40 hospitalsMS$119Alabama: median $158 across 13 hospitalsAL$158Georgia: median $343 across 40 hospitalsGA$343Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $250 across 105 hospitalsTX$250Florida: median $246 across 75 hospitalsFL$246
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $192. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA40$343+79%$105 – $389
Nevada NV15$340+77%$123 – $470
California CA117$318+66%$152 – $582
North Dakota ND16$301+57%$162 – $604
South Carolina SC30$273+42%$148 – $317
Ohio OH87$267+39%$180 – $313
Massachusetts MA41$266+39%$180 – $384
New York NY101$262+37%$148 – $390
Texas TX105$250+30%$116 – $408
Utah UT28$249+30%$237 – $296
Florida FL75$246+29%$142 – $637
Idaho ID13$237+23%$114 – $466
South Dakota SD15$234+22%$145 – $260
Maryland MD26$221+15%$167 – $368
Connecticut CT20$214+12%$152 – $428
Oklahoma OK32$210+10%$158 – $304
Virginia VA44$207+8%$82 – $376
Colorado CO33$206+7%$107 – $307
Washington WA51$206+7%$139 – $309
Pennsylvania PA68$194+1%$74 – $307
Iowa IA68$193+1%$126 – $441
Nebraska NE49$190−1%$128 – $295
New Jersey NJ47$189−1%$109 – $214
Alaska AK12$184−4%$126 – $290
Illinois IL81$180−6%$135 – $295
Oregon OR40$177−8%$57 – $254
Arizona AZ14$176−8%$132 – $373
New Mexico NM13$170−11%$93 – $302
Maine ME19$166−14%$62 – $195
Michigan MI74$160−17%$80 – $253
Alabama AL13$158−18%$131 – $327
Kentucky KY33$154−19%$94 – $606
Minnesota MN68$151−21%$101 – $266
Missouri MO37$151−21%$100 – $210
Vermont VT10$150−22%$108 – $238
West Virginia WV28$149−22%$101 – $222
Wisconsin WI70$142−26%$102 – $212
Indiana IN58$138−28%$84 – $257
Montana MT22$126−34%$83 – $197
Kansas KS40$126−34%$78 – $210
North Carolina NC46$123−36%$94 – $182
Mississippi MS40$119−38%$88 – $150
Louisiana LA31$112−42%$50 – $207
New Hampshire NH16$108−44%$101 – $144
Tennessee TN29$61−68%$45 – $194
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $192.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,326$204$108 – $342
Children’s42$177$125 – $350
Critical access575$177$105 – $302
Ownership
For-profit148$275$116 – $535
Government378$169$105 – $289
Non-profit1,417$195$108 – $322
System affiliation
Part of a system1,585$197$107 – $335
Independent365$172$108 – $289

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$315
Median cash price$192
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

1,305 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $210 and the average of the middle 60% is $214; most fall between $115 and $329.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,305 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$88$131$210$312$470

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($88 vs $470).

Of the 1,383 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,305 gave a usable cash price; 21 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 57 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,950 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (49%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,060 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,950
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here37
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded71
Hospitals that filed this code2,060

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 4, 2026 and September 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Psychological and psychiatric evaluation and therapy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Psychotherapy W/Patient 45 Minutes.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Psychotherapy session, about 45 minutes (CPT 90834) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-90834-psychotherapy-session-about-45-minutes