Therapy Medicaid rates in Delaware split sharply by discipline. Delaware Medicaid pays $113.44 an hour for physical therapy under code 97110, which ranks 9th of 49 states and is 18.1% above the national median of $96.04. The rate is $28.36 per 15-minute unit, effective 2026-01-01.
Speech therapy is a different story. Delaware pays $22.93 for both speech treatment (92507) and the speech-language evaluation (92524), and the evaluation rate is the lowest of 44 states. Few schedules put one discipline in the top ten and another at the bottom. All rates are compiled from official Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance publications, and the Delaware Medicaid rates hub links each to its source document.
All six Delaware therapy rates share the same effective date, 2026-01-01.
| Service | Code | Delaware rate | Rank | vs national median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical therapy | 97110 | $113.44/hour | 9 of 49 | +18.1% |
| Occupational therapy | 97530 | $136.68/hour | 10 of 48 | +23.6% |
| PT evaluation | 97161 | $95.90 | 10 of 46 | +17.3% |
| OT evaluation | 97165 | $98.17 | 10 of 46 | +19.1% |
| Speech-language therapy | 92507 | $22.93 | 36 of 39 | -62.8% |
| Speech-language evaluation | 92524 | $22.93 | 44 of 44 | -74.9% |
Four of the six rates rank 9th or 10th nationally. The other two, both speech, rank near or at the bottom.
Delaware's therapy rates follow the two common pricing shapes. PT and OT treatment codes such as 97110 and 97530 are priced per 15-minute unit, so visit revenue depends on documented billable units. Speech treatment under 92507 and all evaluations are paid per service.
That difference explains part of the speech gap. A PT hour at four units of $28.36 earns $113.44, while a speech session at $22.93 earns the same amount whatever its length within the code's definition. Session length, which drives PT revenue, does nothing for speech revenue in Delaware.
For physical and occupational therapy practices, Delaware is one of the better-paying Medicaid states. The $136.68 hourly rate for 97530 is 23.6% above the national OT median of $110.60, and the PT evaluation at $95.90 and OT evaluation at $98.17 both sit just inside the top ten.
That consistency across treatment and evaluation means a PT or OT episode is well paid from intake through discharge. A clinic that sees a steady flow of new referrals and long treatment courses benefits on both ends. Unlike states where low evaluation rates make each new case a cost to absorb, Delaware rewards intake as well as ongoing care.
Delaware's speech-language evaluation under 92524 pays $22.93, the national minimum and 74.9% below the $91.32 median. Delaware appears on the national low list for that service alongside New Jersey ($56.46) and Alabama ($50.96), and sits far below both.
Speech treatment under 92507 pays the same $22.93, ranking 36th of 39 and 62.8% below the $61.64 median. For a pediatric practice where speech-language pathology drives most visits, Delaware's Medicaid schedule is among the least favorable in the country.
What this means for a speech practice
A speech practice serving Delaware Medicaid patients has three realistic paths. It can rely on managed care contracts, since plans negotiate their own rates and the published figure is only the out-of-network fallback. It can balance Medicaid speech volume with other payers. Or it can operate as part of a multi-discipline group where PT and OT carry the Medicaid book of business. Practices offering all three disciplines should expect PT and OT to do exactly that, with speech running well behind.
Delaware wages are close to or above the national medians. In May 2025, physical therapists earned a median $49.06 an hour against $49.40 nationally, occupational therapists $49.10 against $48.24, and speech-language pathologists $49.40 against $47.05. Assistants earned more than their national peers: physical therapist assistants $35.87 against $32.88, and occupational therapy assistants $37.81 against $34.76.
On PT and OT, the rate cushion is wide:
- Physical therapy (97110): wages take 61.5% of the $113.44 hourly rate, leaving $43.71 an hour after a loaded wage.
- Occupational therapy (97530): wages take 51.1% of the $136.68 hourly rate, leaving $66.89.
Speech-language pathologists in Delaware earn a median above the national figure while the speech rates are among the lowest in the country, so the speech line is where wage costs bite hardest. The assistant premiums also matter: with assistants paid above their national peers, the savings from assistant-delivered PT and OT care are smaller in Delaware than elsewhere, though the strong rates leave room for them.
None of the therapy codes on file, from treatment codes 97110, 97112, 97530 and 92507 to the PT and OT evaluation and re-evaluation codes and the speech evaluations 92521 through 92524, carries a prior-authorization rule or a unit limit in Delaware's coverage data.
Administrative friction is low; the fee level, especially for speech, is the main constraint. Billing teams can concentrate on correct coding and plan assignment rather than tracking authorization windows, which keeps the cost of running a Delaware Medicaid caseload down. Plans may still apply their own utilization management in network, so contracts should be read for any plan-level review requirements.
Delaware's managed-care programs are the Diamond State Health Plan (DSHP) and, for managed long-term services and supports, DSHP Plus. The plans on file include AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware, Delaware First Health and Highmark Health Options, and our data counts 5 plans and brokers in total.
For physical, occupational and speech therapy, the rule on file is: plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network. That makes the contract terms with each DSHP plan the real rate for in-network therapy. The Delaware managed-care page lists the plans on file.
Negotiating with three plans
With only three medical plans, each contract carries a large share of a practice's Medicaid volume. For PT and OT, the published schedule is a strong anchor: a plan rate well below a top-ten fee schedule needs a reason. For speech, the logic reverses. The published figure is so low that a practice should negotiate from its own cost per session, not from the schedule, and make the case that access to speech services depends on a workable rate.
On physical therapy, Delaware's $113.44 trails Alaska ($176.68), New Mexico ($165.64) and Montana ($147.04), but sits well above neighboring New Jersey at $58.80. On speech, the order flips: Washington leads at $144.10 for 92507, and Delaware is among the lowest. Maryland and Pennsylvania are the other nearby comparisons.
For mid-Atlantic groups, Delaware rewards PT and OT and penalizes speech.
Delaware's split schedule rewards a practice that plans its discipline mix deliberately rather than letting referrals decide it.
Let PT and OT anchor the Medicaid book
With PT and OT treatment and evaluations all in the national top ten, these disciplines can carry a meaningful Medicaid caseload on their own economics. Capacity added here earns well from the first visit, and a steady flow of evaluations adds to revenue rather than diluting it.
Size speech capacity to contracts
Speech capacity for Medicaid patients is best sized to what plan contracts actually pay. If a plan's speech rate covers the practice's cost per session, speech can grow with that plan's referrals. If it does not, the practice can still serve those patients, but as a deliberate choice funded by the stronger disciplines rather than an unplanned loss.
Keep administration lean
No therapy code on file carries prior authorization, which keeps intake simple. That advantage is worth protecting: clean eligibility checks, correct plan assignment and accurate coding are enough to keep denials low, and every denial avoided matters most on the low-paying speech claims.
Delaware's therapy rates took effect January 1, 2026, alongside the DMAP 2026 Physician Fee Schedule edition. The next annual edition is the main event to watch, especially for any movement in the speech codes. Practices should also follow each DSHP plan's contract renewal cycle, since in-network rates are where most Medicaid therapy volume is actually paid.
Budget PT and OT on units at the published rates, then adjust to each plan's contract. Budget speech from the practice's own cost per session and the contracted plan rates, treating the published speech figure as a floor for out-of-network claims only. Evaluations for PT and OT can be modeled as a revenue contributor rather than a cost of intake.
Delaware's therapy line carries 67 current rates, part of all 46,693 current Delaware Medicaid rates available through MedicaidRate plans.
Rates on this page are compiled from official Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance publications, including the DMAP 2026 Physician Fee Schedule, and each rate links to its source document. The national therapy rates hub compares every state on the same basis, and our methodology explains how rates are converted and ranked.