CPT 90853

Across 225,828 services billed by 773 providers to 18,533 beneficiaries, Medicare allowed an average of $23.01 per service. That is 12.2 services per beneficiary, so this is a code patients typically receive more than once. The allowed amount is the figure that matters: it is what Medicare and the patient together owe, set by the fee schedule and adjusted for local practice costs. What a provider chose to submit has no bearing on it.

Two different numbers. Allowed is what Medicare actually allowed in that state, which includes the local practice-cost adjustment. Standardized strips that geographic adjustment out of the payment, so it is the column to use when comparing states — a difference there reflects how the code was billed, not what it costs to run a practice locally.

• 90837Psychotherapy$127.42
• 90834Psychotherapy$88.04
• 90832Psychotherapy$65.95
• 90833Psychotherapy$64.86
• 90836Psychotherapy$88.70
• 90868Treatment using magnetic field to stimulate nerve cells in brain, subs$183.83
• 90870Therapy using electrical currents$103.73
• 90838Psychotherapy$113.05
• 90847Family psychotherapy$92.01
• 90839Psychotherapy for crisis$113.12
• 90846Family psychotherapy without patient$83.43
• 90867Treatment using magnetic field to stimulate nerve cells in brain, init$285.49

An allowed amount is revenue to a practice, not income to a clinician. It funds staff, premises, equipment and supplies before anyone is paid. What clinicians actually earn is published separately by the Department of Labor, and what industry pays them is published separately again by CMS — this site carries both.

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