Therapy Medicaid rates in Georgia have stood still longer than in most states. Georgia Medicaid pays $80.28 an hour for physical therapy under code 97110, which ranks 38th of 49 states and is 16.4% below the national median of $96.04. The rate is $20.07 per 15-minute unit, and it has been in effect since 2017-01-01.
The same 2017 date applies to Georgia's occupational and speech therapy treatment rates and to its speech-language evaluation. Only the PT and OT evaluation codes carry a newer date, 2023-04-01. For a therapy practice, that means the core treatment rates have not been revised in close to a decade, and the margins show it. All rates are compiled from official Georgia Department of Community Health publications, and the Georgia Medicaid rates hub links each to its source document.
| Service | Code | Georgia rate | Effective | Rank | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical therapy | 97110 | $80.28/hour | 2017-01-01 | 38 of 49 | -16.4% |
| Occupational therapy | 97530 | $78.08/hour | 2017-01-01 | 41 of 48 | -29.4% |
| Speech-language therapy | 92507 | $23.85 | 2017-01-01 | 34 of 39 | -61.3% |
| PT evaluation | 97162 | $69.34 | 2023-04-01 | 32 of 46 | -15.2% |
| OT evaluation | 97167 | $67.21 | 2023-04-01 | 35 of 46 | -18.4% |
| Speech-language evaluation | 92524 | $82.12 | 2017-01-01 | 30 of 44 | -10.1% |
Every Georgia therapy rate is below its national median. The speech-language evaluation comes closest, at 10.1% below; speech treatment is furthest, at 61.3% below. No line on the schedule sits in the top half of states, which is what distinguishes Georgia from neighbors that are low on one discipline but competitive on another.
Georgia pays $20.07 for each 15-minute unit of 97110. A typical treatment hour is four units, which produces the $80.28 hourly figure used to rank states. The unit price is what appears on a remittance, so billing staff should think in units while finance teams compare in hours.
Why the hourly view matters
States publish therapy differently: some price per unit, some per visit, some per session. Converting to an hour makes Georgia's rate comparable with every other state on the national therapy rates hub. On that basis Georgia sits in the lower third, well above the bottom of the table but a long way from the states that set the pace.
The most distinctive feature of Georgia's therapy rates is their age. The 97110, 97530 and 92507 treatment rates, and the 92524 speech-language evaluation, all carry a 2017-01-01 effective date. During that period, wages for therapists and assistants have moved, rent and software costs have risen, and documentation expectations have grown, while the payment per unit has stayed fixed.
What a frozen rate does to a practice
A rate that does not move is effectively a falling rate in real terms. Each year, a larger share of the $80.28 hour goes to wages and overhead, and the margin left over shrinks. Practices that set their Medicaid volume targets years ago, when the rate was newer relative to costs, should revisit them. A caseload mix that worked when the schedule was published may not work today.
What to watch
Because the core rates have not moved in years, any new edition of the Georgia physician and practitioner fee schedule that touches therapy codes would be a significant event. Practices should monitor the state's public notices and the Georgia Medicaid rates hub, which tracks changes as they are published.
Nationally, occupational therapy has a higher median hourly rate ($110.60) than physical therapy ($96.04). Georgia inverts that. Its OT rate under 97530 is $19.52 per 15 minutes, or $78.08 an hour, slightly below its own PT rate of $80.28. That pushes OT to 41st of 48 states and 29.4% below the median.
For mixed clinics, the inversion means OT hours are the least profitable treatment time on the Georgia Medicaid schedule, while in most states they are among the most profitable. The OT evaluation follows the same pattern: $67.21 under 97167, below the $69.34 PT evaluation. Georgia occupational therapists also earn a higher median wage than its physical therapists, so the inversion hits OT from both sides.
The PT evaluation under 97162 pays $69.34 and the OT evaluation under 97167 pays $67.21, both effective 2023-04-01. They are Georgia's most recent therapy rates and rank 32nd and 35th of 46 states, slightly better than the treatment codes.
An evaluation is a one-time payment at the start of an episode. Because it pays less than one treatment hour in Georgia, its main financial role is to open the episode; the practice's return comes from the treatment visits that follow. The 2023 refresh improved intake economics but did not change the treatment rates where most Medicaid revenue is earned.
Georgia pays $23.85 for 92507, near the bottom of the 39 ranked states. The speech-language evaluation under 92524 pays $82.12, much closer to the $91.32 median. A speech episode in Georgia therefore starts with a reasonable evaluation payment and then moves into treatment visits paid far below the national norm.
Practices should model speech revenue across the full episode rather than from the evaluation alone. A long treatment course at $23.85 a visit dilutes the evaluation payment quickly, so episode length is the variable that most decides whether a Georgia speech caseload covers its costs. Session length matters too: because 92507 is priced per service rather than per unit, a longer session earns the same payment as a shorter one.
Georgia's therapist wages are close to the national medians, which makes the rate gap the main driver of margin. In May 2025, physical therapists earned a median $49.38 an hour against $49.40 nationally, occupational therapists $50.01 against $48.24, and speech-language pathologists $46.52 against $47.05. Assistants earned more than the national figures: physical therapist assistants $35.00 against $32.88, and occupational therapy assistants $36.50 against $34.76.
The economics are tight:
- Physical therapy (97110): wages take 87.4% of the $80.28 hourly rate, leaving $10.10 an hour after a loaded wage.
- Occupational therapy (97530): wages take 91.0% of the $78.08 hourly rate, leaving $7.00.
Above-median assistant wages narrow the usual savings from assistant-delivered care. With rates fixed since 2017 and wages near national levels, Georgia practices carry most of the cost pressure themselves.
With a margin of $7.00 to $10.10 an hour before overhead, operational discipline decides whether Medicaid therapy breaks even.
- Protect utilization. A cancelled hour costs the full wage but earns nothing; reminder systems and backfill lists have an outsized effect at these margins.
- Lean on PT where demand allows. PT is the better-paid treatment line in Georgia, so a clinic choosing where to add Medicaid capacity will generally find it in PT before OT.
- Keep speech sessions efficient. A per-service speech rate rewards consistent session length rather than extended visits.
- Treat Medicaid as part of a mix. Most practices will balance Georgia Medicaid volume with commercial and Medicare work that carries higher rates.
The Georgia coverage data lists the home-therapy codes S9128, S9129 and S9131, each with no prior-authorization rule and no unit limit. No code-level authorization rules are recorded for the CPT therapy codes above. Practices should still check each service against Georgia Medicaid policy manuals before treatment, as coverage terms can differ by program, including waiver programs such as the New Options Waiver and the Comprehensive Supports Waiver.
Georgia Medicaid works with managed-care plans; our data counts 14 plans and entities, including Amerigroup, CareSource Georgia, Peach State Health Plan, United Health Care of Georgia and WellCare of Georgia. For physical, occupational and speech therapy, the rule on file is that the service is paid directly by the state, outside managed care. The published Georgia Medicaid fee schedule is the rate that applies.
That differs from physician services and ABA in Georgia, where plans negotiate and the published rate applies out of network. Home health follows the same carve-out as therapy. For a therapy practice, the carve-out means one payer and one schedule, but also no plan contract to negotiate above the state rate. The Georgia managed-care page lists all plans on file.
Alaska pays $176.68 an hour for 97110, Texas $135.00 and North Dakota $129.16. Georgia's $80.28 is closer to the bottom group, where New Jersey pays $58.80 and Maine $46.64. Its neighbor Alabama also pays below-median evaluation rates, and Florida sets one flat rate across all three disciplines.
For Southeast therapy groups, Georgia is a mid-to-low market with an aging schedule. Its PT rate is competitive with several neighbors, while its speech rate is among the lowest in the country.
- Budgeting: model PT at $80.28 an hour and OT at $78.08, then apply your own wage and overhead costs. Do not assume a rate increase in your plan year; the history does not support one.
- Benchmarking: compare your commercial contracts against the Georgia Medicaid floor to understand how dependent your margins are on payer mix.
- Capacity planning: when adding Medicaid capacity, weigh the PT advantage over OT and the low speech treatment rate.
- Monitoring: watch for any new edition touching therapy codes; after years without change, even a modest update would shift the economics.
Rates on this page are compiled from official Georgia Department of Community Health publications, including the Physician Maximum Allowed Fee Schedule. Each rate links to its source document. Hourly figures convert published 15-minute units to an hour, and ranks compare the same service across states on that basis. Wages are May 2025 state and national medians for each role.
This page covers therapy only; the Georgia Medicaid rates hub covers all 20,899 current Georgia Medicaid rates. Our methodology explains how rates are converted and ranked, and pricing describes full-dataset access.