ABA Medicaid rates in Montana are split down the middle: the state pays $45.44 an hour for code 97153, one-on-one ABA delivered by a technician, which ranks 36th of 42 states and sits 28.4% below the national median of $63.44. Yet the same schedule pays $161.64 an hour for the analyst's assessment (97151), 8th of 41 states and 38.7% above the national median. Few states pull the assessment and the technician hour this far apart.
Every rate on this page comes from official Montana Medicaid publications, and each one links to the source document it was taken from. All ABA codes below have been in effect since July 1, 2025.
The 97153 Montana Medicaid rate and what it pays per hour
Montana publishes 97153 at $11.36 per 15-minute unit, with no modifier, which converts to $45.44 an hour. For most agencies the technician hour is the bulk of billed time, so this is the number that sets the revenue ceiling for a case.
At $45.44, Montana sits in the lower part of the national ranking. It is above the lowest states on 97153, New York at $38.52 and Louisiana at $40.00, but well under the national median of $63.44 and far below Alaska at $127.80. An agency moving a case model from a median-rate state into Montana should expect each technician hour to bring in noticeably less.
Montana also pays the technician's assessment support time (97152) at the same $45.44 an hour. That figure ranks 26th of 29 states and is 41.0% below the 97152 national median of $77.04. See the 97153 rate in every state for the full comparison.
Montana Medicaid ABA reimbursement for analysts
The analyst codes tell a more mixed story. Montana's schedule clearly values the initial assessment far more than ongoing analyst time.
| Code | Service | Montana per hour | Rank | vs national median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97151 | Assessment by an analyst | $161.64 | 8 of 41 | +38.7% |
| 97155 | Treatment with plan changes by an analyst | $81.84 | 33 of 41 | -19.0% |
| 97156 | Parent and caregiver training | $81.84 | 31 of 43 | -13.7% |
| 97158 | Group ABA led by an analyst | $27.36 | 22 of 30 | -26.6% |
| 97154 | Group ABA led by a technician | $15.12 | 33 of 37 | -49.5% |
The 97151 assessment at $40.41 per unit is the standout. The states above it are led by New Mexico at $450.60, Vermont at $263.20 and Minnesota at $200.44. For a Montana agency, that makes intake and reassessment the most profitable analyst activity on the schedule.
Ongoing supervision is a different matter. The 97155 rate of $81.84 an hour is below the national median of $101.04, and caregiver training (97156) pays the same $81.84. The gap between Montana's technician hour and its analyst treatment hour is narrower than the national gap, which limits how much BCBA time each case can carry.
Group sessions under Montana Medicaid
Group codes pay per patient, so their hourly values are always low. Montana's technician-led group rate (97154) of $3.78 per unit, or $15.12 an hour, is 49.5% below the national median of $29.96 and ranks 33rd of 37 states. It stays above the very bottom: North Dakota pays $10.88, Missouri $8.20 and Texas $6.52.
Analyst-led groups (97158) pay $27.36 an hour, 22nd of 30 states. Group work in Montana is best treated as a supplement to individual treatment rather than a core revenue line.
RBT and BCBA wages against Montana ABA rates
Montana's lower technician rate is partly offset by lower wages. Federal occupational data for May 2025 puts the median wage for the closest comparable technician occupation in Montana at $18.54 an hour, against $22.08 nationally. The analyst proxy is $28.36 in Montana and $28.53 nationally. Both are proxy occupations, so read them as floors rather than market pay for credentialed staff.
Here is how the margins work out after a loaded wage:
- Technician hour (97153 and 97152). The median wage is 58.0% of the $45.44 rate, leaving a margin of $19.09 an hour to cover supervision, travel, cancellations and administration.
- Analyst treatment and caregiver training (97155 and 97156). The wage is 49.3% of the $81.84 rate, with a margin of $41.53 an hour.
- Analyst assessment (97151). The wage is only 24.9% of the $161.64 rate, leaving a margin of $121.33 an hour, by far the richest line on the schedule.
The pattern is clear. Technician hours in Montana run on thin margins, and agencies that stay viable usually do it by keeping cancellations low and by making assessments and reassessments timely and complete.
Prior authorization, coverage rules and managed care
The Montana schedule attaches one prior authorization rule to the 97151 assessment. Codes 97152, 97153, 97154, 97155, 97156 and 97158 carry no prior authorization rule on the schedule itself, and none has a published unit limit. Code T1027 carries five prior authorization rules, so any ABA-related service billed under that code needs closer attention before the first claim.
The absence of a rule on the fee schedule does not mean a treatment plan needs no approval elsewhere. It means the schedule itself does not flag one, so agencies should confirm requirements in the program manual.
ABA in Montana is paid through Montana Medicaid and HMK Plus on a fee-for-service basis, so the published schedule is the rate an agency bills. Montana's coverage data names 17 plans and program arrangements, including primary care and tribal health programs, but ABA claims are priced from the fee schedule rather than negotiated plan contracts. See the Montana managed care page for how each program is organized.
Recent Montana rate changes affecting ABA
Two updates frame the current ABA rates. The July 1, 2026 Fee Schedule Updates took effect on July 1, 2026, and the earlier Provider Rate Increases Systematic Adjustments took effect on September 8, 2023. The current ABA rates carry a July 1, 2025 effective date. Agencies should check each new schedule release, because a systematic adjustment can move every ABA code at once.
How Montana compares nationally
Montana is a low-rate state for technician time and a high-rate state for assessment. Against the top of the market, Alaska pays $127.80 for 97153 and Georgia $123.64, while Virginia leads on analyst-led groups at $112.52. Against the bottom, Montana pays more than New York and Louisiana on the technician hour and more than Washington, New Hampshire and Louisiana on the assessment.
For the national picture, see ABA Medicaid rates by state. For every Montana code and service line, open the Montana Medicaid rates hub. Our methodology explains how 15-minute units are converted to hourly rates and how states are ranked.
Updated 2026-10-05