ABA Medicaid rates in Nevada reward analyst time more than technician time. Nevada Medicaid pays $52.04 an hour for code 97153, one-on-one ABA delivered by a technician, which ranks 30th of 42 states and is 18.0% below the national median of $63.44. Analyst treatment on 97155 pays $120.40 an hour, 16th of 41 states and 19.2% above the national median, and Nevada ranks 5th in the country for analyst-led group ABA.
Nevada's ABA rates have been stable: every code carries a June or July 2023 effective date. They are compiled from official Nevada Medicaid publications, and each rate links to its source document on the Nevada Medicaid rates hub.
Nevada attaches a modifier to every ABA code, and the modifier tells you which provider level the rate belongs to:
- HM on technician codes: 97153 at $13.01 per unit and 97152 at $15.60 per unit.
- HO on analyst codes: 97151 at $29.14, 97155 at $30.10, 97156 at $21.32 and 97158 at $14.28 per unit.
- UD on technician-led group ABA: 97154 at $7.08 per unit.
For billing staff, the practical point is that the same code can carry a different rate depending on the modifier. Claims must match the rendering provider's credential to the modifier on the schedule, or they will price incorrectly.
The safest setup is to attach modifiers automatically from the staff member's credential in the scheduling or billing system, rather than relying on manual entry. A claim that pairs an analyst code with a technician modifier, or the reverse, is one of the most common avoidable denials in a credential-tiered schedule.
At $13.01 per unit, 97153 pays $52.04 an hour. Nevada is above the lowest states, New York at $38.52 and Louisiana at $40.00, but well short of Alaska at $127.80, Georgia at $123.64 and Iowa at $114.36.
Technician assessment support (97152) pays $62.40 an hour, 19th of 29 states and 19.0% below the national median of $77.04. Technician-led groups (97154) pay $28.32 an hour, 20th of 37 and 5.5% below the national median.
The technician hour fills most of a child's authorization, so a below-median 97153 rate sets a lower revenue ceiling for every case. In Nevada, the wage proxy for technicians is also below the national figure, which softens the effect, but the wage still takes about half of the rate.
That leaves limited room for the unpaid time around each session: travel, documentation, supervision meetings and cancellations. Agencies that work well in Nevada tend to keep technician schedules dense, place sessions in clinics or other settings where cancellations can be backfilled, and limit driving between homes.
The rate also affects hiring and retention. With a thin margin on each technician hour, turnover is expensive: every new hire brings unbilled training time. Investment in supervision quality and career paths often does more for the bottom line than a marginal wage increase.
| Code | Service | Nevada per hour | Rank | vs national median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97155 (HO) | Treatment with plan changes by an analyst | $120.40 | 16 of 41 | +19.2% |
| 97151 (HO) | Assessment by an analyst | $116.56 | 21 of 41 | 0.0% |
| 97156 (HO) | Parent and caregiver training | $85.28 | 28 of 43 | -10.0% |
| 97158 (HO) | Group ABA led by an analyst | $57.12 | 5 of 30 | +53.1% |
97155 is solidly above median. The assessment (97151) sits exactly at the national median of $116.56, and caregiver training (97156) runs 10.0% below.
The key structural feature is the gap between analyst and technician pay. In Nevada, an analyst treatment hour pays more than twice a technician hour, a wider spread than in many states. That rewards models with regular, well-documented BCBA involvement in each case.
Caregiver training is the exception. At $85.28 an hour, 28th of 43, it pays noticeably less than treatment direction for the same analyst's time. That should not push caregiver sessions out of treatment plans, since generalizing skills into the home is central to good outcomes, but it does mean those sessions should be scheduled efficiently, for example back-to-back with a supervision visit in the same home, so that the analyst's travel time is spread across more billable work.
The analyst-led group code (97158) is Nevada's strongest ranking. It appears among the five highest-paying states, behind Virginia at $112.52, Georgia at $70.04, Vermont at $65.80 and Alaska at $60.76.
For agencies running social-skills groups led by a BCBA, Nevada is one of the better-paying states in the country. Group rates are paid per child, so a group of several children each billing $57.12 an hour can produce strong revenue per analyst hour while serving more families from limited BCBA capacity.
Making groups work
The clinical case for groups is real for children ready to practice skills with peers, and Nevada's rate removes much of the financial penalty that groups carry elsewhere. The constraints are practical: matching children by age and goals, keeping attendance steady, and making sure each child's authorization supports group services. Groups work best as a complement to individual therapy rather than a replacement.
Nevada's wage levels help offset its technician rate. Federal data for May 2025 puts the median wage for the closest comparable technician occupation at $18.54 an hour in Nevada, against $22.08 nationally. The analyst proxy is $27.51, against $28.53 nationally. Both are proxy occupations, so read them as floors rather than market pay for credentialed staff.
- 97153 technician hour: the wage is 50.6% of the $52.04 rate, leaving $25.69 an hour after a loaded wage.
- 97152 assessment support: 42.2% of $62.40, leaving $36.05 an hour.
- 97155 analyst treatment: 32.5% of $120.40, leaving $81.30 an hour.
- 97151 assessment: 33.5% of $116.56, leaving $77.46 an hour.
- 97156 caregiver training: 45.8% of $85.28, leaving $46.18 an hour.
The analyst treatment margin is far wider than the technician margin, which favors service models with regular BCBA involvement and analyst-led groups.
Nevada's schedule sets one hard limit: the 97151 assessment is limited to one session per 180 days, and it carries no prior authorization rule on the schedule itself. Plan reassessments around that window; an early reassessment may not be payable.
Codes 97153 and 97155 each carry one prior authorization rule. The schedule does not list prior authorization rules or limits for the other ABA codes.
In practice, the 180-day window should drive the reassessment calendar. Track each child's last assessment date, schedule the next one just after the window opens, and align it with authorization renewal for 97153 and 97155, so that the updated assessment supports the request for continued treatment hours.
Nevada pays Medicaid services through fee-for-service and through Nevada Medicaid Managed Care, the Mandatory Health Maintenance Program run by risk MCOs. For ABA, the state's rule is that plans must pay at least the published rate; behavioral health follows the same rule. The fee schedule is therefore a floor in plan contracts, not just a benchmark. Nine plans are on file. See Nevada managed care rules.
Negotiating above the floor
A floor gives an agency a firm starting point. Plans may pay more than the published rate, and the case for a higher rate is strongest where the agency adds access the plan needs: BCBA-led groups, short waitlists, or coverage in areas with few providers. Agencies should also confirm that each contract updates automatically when the state schedule changes, since the current Nevada rates date to 2023.
Nevada is a below-median state for technician hours and an above-median state for analyst treatment and analyst-led groups. It does not reach Virginia, which pays $93.92 for 97153 and $157.60 for 97155, but sits far above Louisiana on every analyst code.
In the Mountain region, Nevada's $13.01 technician unit is above Wyoming ($12.30) and Montana ($11.36), and below Colorado ($17.20), Arizona ($17.91) and Utah ($19.67). A regional operator will find Nevada's analyst rates more competitive than its technician rate.
Build the budget from the hours mix, and keep the credential tiers separate. Estimate each child's technician hours, analyst treatment hours, caregiver training and group participation, then apply the modifier-specific rates. In Nevada, the analyst share of the mix has an outsized effect on revenue.
Then model delivered hours, not authorized hours, and test the budget against a lower delivery rate. Schedule assessments around the 180-day limit, and line them up with authorization renewals so that treatment never pauses while paperwork catches up. The national ABA rates hub compares every state, and the Nevada hub covers all 79,042 current Nevada Medicaid rates, including the Nevada behavioral health rates many ABA agencies also bill.
Rates on this page are compiled from official Nevada Medicaid publications, including the Provider Type 14 Behavioral Health rate schedule. Each rate in the full dataset links to its source document and effective date. Per-hour figures convert 15-minute unit rates to an hourly equivalent, and ranks compare only states that publish the same service. Our methodology explains the conversion and ranking rules.