Which panel is paying more for 90837 in Texas right now?
UHC and BCBS Texas both contracted Texas master's-level therapists at approximately ~$110 at the median for 90837 as of early 2026 — an identical headline number with a meaningfully different distribution underneath. UHC's rates are more concentrated at the median; BCBS Texas's lower floor at p25 makes it the likelier source of below-market contracts. Which panel you review first depends less on whose median is higher than on where your own contracted rate sits inside each payer's distribution.
| Payer | p25 | Median | p75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnitedHealthcare | $110 | ||
| BCBS Texas | $110 | ||
| Cigna | $96 | ||
| Aetna | $136 |
Full distribution (p10–p90), sample sizes, and confidence scores available in the complete report.
Unlock full data →What does the Transparency in Coverage rule actually publish?
The Transparency in Coverage rule requires every commercial health plan to publish its in-network contracted rates in machine-readable files each month — by provider NPI, CPT code, and billing modifier. See the full methodology for how these distributions are built.
The UHC Texas 90837 page and BCBS Texas 90837 page are each built from that data, filtered to the same code, state, and credential group so the comparison holds.
What does each payer's Texas 90837 distribution look like?
Each payer's distribution has three fields worth reading before you compare them:
The median is the midpoint of the payer's Texas master's-level 90837 contracts — half of the payer's therapists are contracted above it, half below. This is the first-pass answer to which payer is contracting more generously for this code.
The middle range — roughly the 25th to 75th percentile — shows how the payer negotiates. A tight middle range means the payer holds close to a standard rate. A wide one means they negotiate case by case, and your own position inside the range matters more than the midpoint.
The sample size weights the read. Larger cohorts produce more stable medians; a thin cohort can move on a handful of unusual contracts. Both payers have large enough Texas master's-level cohorts that the medians are reliable. The exact cohort sizes are shown on each payer's report page.
Both distributions are visible — sample size, methodology, confidence scoring — before purchase on each payer's page.
How much does the gap between payers matter in practice?
Small gaps compound. UHC and BCBS Texas are within ~$10 at the median, but the spread widens meaningfully at the top of the distribution — UHC's p75 runs materially above BCBS Texas's. If you're seeing 15 sessions per week with the lower-paying payer and your rate sits near the p25 floor, the difference compounds quickly in the annualized math. That calculation is worth doing with your own numbers before you decide whether a rate-review letter is worth the afternoon it takes to write.
The formula: (gap in dollars at your rate's percentile) × (weekly sessions with that payer) × 50 = annualized opportunity. Your position inside the distribution, not the median alone, decides whether the letter has something concrete to cite.
Which panel do you review first?
Review the panel where your contracted 90837 rate sits lowest inside that payer's own distribution — not the panel with the lower median, and not the one with the larger nominal gap. Position inside the payer's network is the ground a letter can actually cite.
If your UHC rate is at the 55th percentile of UHC's Texas master's-level distribution and your BCBS Texas rate is at the 18th percentile of BCBS Texas's distribution, BCBS Texas is the letter to write first — regardless of which payer's median is higher. You're citing the payer's own distribution to show them your contract is in the bottom fifth of what they're paying comparable providers for this code.
To find your position: pull your most recent contract or remittance advice, locate the 90837 contracted rate, then compare it to each payer's distribution on the benchmark page.
What can the comparison not tell you?
Contracted rate is the ceiling of what a payer pays per claim. Realized reimbursement — what actually lands after denials, downcoding, and modifier adjustments — can be lower and varies by practice. A payer with a stronger contracted median can still cost more in administrative drag. The contracted-rate comparison tells you where to focus a rate review; your billing history tells you how much each payer relationship actually costs to maintain.
What's visible before you buy either report
Sample size, methodology, confidence scoring, and the middle-range corridor are all shown on the UHC Texas 90837 page and the BCBS Texas 90837 page before purchase. The Texas 90837 payer comparison holds code, state, and credential group constant across all four major Texas payers — UHC, BCBS Texas, Cigna, and Aetna — so you can read all four distributions at once before deciding which report to buy.