CPT 90837 — Psychotherapy, 53+ Minutes

What CPT 90837 is

CPT 90837 is the AMA billing code for individual psychotherapy lasting 53 minutes or longer. The descriptor reads "Psychotherapy, 53 minutes or more" — commonly referred to as the 60-minute psychotherapy session. The AMA defines psychotherapy as treatment of mental illness and behavioral disturbances through definitive therapeutic communication.

The 53-minute threshold is a hard boundary, not a rounding convention. A session documented at 52 minutes is CPT 90834, not 90837.

Medicare rates above are national unadjusted averages from the 2026 Physician Fee Schedule final rule (CMS-1832-F, effective January 1, 2026). Actual payment varies by locality through Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI) adjustments.

Who bills 90837

Licensed mental health professionals authorized to bill independently under their state's scope-of-practice law. In most states, that includes:

• Licensed Psychologists (PhD, PsyD)
• Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs)
• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs)
• Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) / Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHCs)
• Psychiatrists (MD, DO) — though psychiatrists more commonly bill E/M codes for medication management

State-specific scope-of-practice rules determine which credentials can bill independently and which require supervision. Some payers credential and reimburse these provider types at different rates for the same code.

How payers price 90837 differently

Medicare publishes one national rate adjusted by locality. Commercial payers negotiate rates individually with each provider — which is why the same code, same state, same credential can produce different contracted amounts depending on the payer and the contract.

The Transparency in Coverage rule (45 CFR Part 147, effective July 2022) requires every commercial payer to publish these negotiated rates monthly in machine-readable files. RateScope builds benchmarks from those filings. See the methodology page for how the data is processed and quality-checked.

Current Texas commercial rates for 90837

Three Texas payer benchmarks are currently published for CPT 90837, drawn from each payer's Transparency in Coverage filings. All rates below are observed contracted rates for master's-level therapists (LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCs pooled).

Psychologist rates for the same code run higher. UHC's psychologist median is $147; BCBS Texas is $132. Full distributions are available in each payer's report.

These figures represent currently observed contracted rates from payer filings — not projections or predictions of future rates. Individual contracts vary. See each report page for full distributions, confidence scores, and sample sizes by credential bucket.

90837 vs 90834 — when to bill which code

The boundary between 90837 and 90834 is 53 minutes of face-to-face time.

• 38–52 minutes of psychotherapy: bill 90834
• 53+ minutes of psychotherapy: bill 90837

Document exact start and stop times. The face-to-face requirement counts time spent in therapeutic communication with the patient — not total appointment time including check-in, paperwork, or documentation.

Common modifiers

Modifier requirements vary by payer. Check the specific payer's billing guidelines before submitting.

See also

• CPT 90834 — Psychotherapy, 38–52 minutes
• Texas commercial rate reports for 90837
• RateScope methodology