CPT 90837 · Commercial rates
CPT 90837 reimbursement rates — what insurance actually pays.
Commercial rates for individual therapy, 60 min (CPT 90837) swing 30–70% across payers. See exactly where yours land — by payer.
Most therapists make
for CPT 90837 nation-wide
“I assumed all insurers paid roughly the same for 90837. upgrate showed me a 30% range across my four payers — and which payers I was underpaid by. Sent letters to two of them and got bumps from both.”
Pull your real commercial contract rate and see where you stand.
90 seconds · Free · No credit card
See where you stand with each payer — in 90 seconds
| Payer / CPT | Reimbursement rate range |
|---|---|
| Aetna | $108–$154 |
| United | $110–$154 |
| Cigna | $68–$151 |
| Anthem | $101–$172 |
| Payers pay different providers based on their credential, locality, experience and individual contract. upgrate can retrieve your specific reimbursement rates and what similar providers make, so you can ask for a higher rate based on real data. | |
Frequently asked questions.
How did you get this data?+
It's public — most therapists just don't know it exists. Since 2022, the federal government has required every major insurance company to publish a giant file showing what they pay every in-network provider. We download those files every month and look up the row that matches your NPI. No leaks, no insider access, no scraping — it's the same data anyone can pull, just turned into something you can actually read.
Will my insurance payer find out I'm using upgrate?+
No. upgrate never contacts your payer. We pull rate data from the Machine-Readable Files every commercial payer is required to publish under the CMS Transparency in Coverage rule — your NPI just looks up your specific rate inside those public files.
Can my payer drop me for asking for a rate increase?+
Requesting a rate review is a routine contractual right — group practices and billers submit them constantly. The letter upgrate generates is a professional contract-amendment request you send from your own email, not a complaint or dispute.
What does upgrate cost?+
Rate reports are free — every payer, every CPT code, no credit card, no trial. You only pay if you decide to use the negotiation system to actually pursue an increase, and pricing is shown before you ever enter payment info.
How much do insurance payers actually pay for psychotherapy?+
Reimbursement for 90837, 90834, and 90791 varies by payer, license (LCSW, LMFT, LMHC, PsyD, MD), ZIP code, and individual contract — two therapists in the same building can be paid 30%+ different for the same code. upgrate pulls your exact rate from each payer's Machine-Readable File and benchmarks it against in-network peers nearby.
Why are the rate ranges so wide?+
Because reimbursement genuinely varies that much. A Manhattan PsyD is paid differently from a rural LMHC, a 2024 contract differently from a 2018 one, and a large group differently from a solo provider — all for the same CPT code with the same payer. The wide band is the honest answer; your NPI is what narrows it down to your specific rate.
Why does upgrate need my NPI?+
Your NPI is the key each payer uses to attach your specific contracted rate inside their Machine-Readable File — without it we can only show state-level ranges. Your first lookup is free with no credit card, and your NPI is stored securely.
What if I'm underpaid?+
That's exactly what upgrate is built for. If your report shows you're below the local in-network benchmark for your license and CPT codes, upgrate can generate a contract-amendment request to your payer's provider-relations team — pre-filled with your specific percentile gap and comparable rates — that you review, edit, and send from your own email. Most therapists hear back in 30–60 days. The report is free; you only pay if you want help actually pursuing the increase.
Are you guaranteeing a rate increase?+
No. upgrate doesn't and can't guarantee any specific rate change. We give you the payer's own data and a formal request letter — outcomes depend on your contract, region, and payer relationship.