Iowa Medicaid behavioral health rates
Iowa Medicaid pays $25.74 per 30 min ($51.48 an hour) for mental health counseling delivered by a licensed mental health clinician, effective August 1, 2025. Below: 5 more behavioral health rates compared with every state we track, the wages of the staff who deliver them, and recent rate changes.
- Mental health counseling
- $25.74per 30 min · $51.48/hr
- Rank among states
- —
- Mental health counselor median wage
- $29.27BLS May 2025
- Iowa minimum wage
- $7.25
Iowa behavioral health rates vs other states
Fee-for-service, like-for-like by provider level. Click a rate to open Iowa's official fee schedule.
| Service | Provider level | Code | IA rate | Unit | Per hour | Rank | Median across states | Lowest | Highest | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mental health counseling | Licensed mental health clinician | 96164 | $25.74 | 30 min | $51.48 | — | $21.21 | $0.45 | $28.05 | 9 |
| Outpatient psychotherapy and diagnostic evaluation | Licensed mental health clinician | 90875 | $58.46 | — | — | 23 of 25 | $81.42 | $20.33 | $302.03 | 25 |
| Mental health assessment (non-physician) | Physician or licensed psychologist | H0031 | $125.00 | — | — | 12 of 24 | $117.85 | $9.66 | $687.46 | 24 |
| Skills training and development | Physician or licensed psychologist | H2014 | $30.15 | 15 min | $120.60 | 1 of 28 | $44.80/hr | $8.60 | $120.60 | 28 |
| Therapeutic behavioral services | Physician or licensed psychologist | H2019 | $30.15 | 15 min | $120.60 | 7 of 26 | $85.46/hr | $16.80 | $825.88 | 26 |
| Mental health service plan development | Licensed mental health clinician | H0032 | $31.25 | — | — | 10 of 17 | $37.51 | $10.00 | $338.84 | 17 |
| Community-based wraparound services | Licensed mental health clinician | Not published | $98.52/hr | $6.28 | $3,451.36 | 11 | ||||
| Psychiatric residential treatment (daily) | All levels | Not published | $677.80/day | $283.19 | $1,244.07 | 13 | ||||
| Inpatient psychiatric stay (per day) | All levels | Not published | $951.97/day | $287.00 | $1,345.00 | 9 | ||||
Mental health counseling: where Iowa ranks
States whose published unit can't be converted are left out of the ranking.
| # | State | Rate | Unit | Per hour | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $28.05 | — | — | 2021-01-01 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | $27.43 | — | — | 2022-01-01 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | $27.38 | — | — | 2023-07-01 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $22.95 | — | — | 2025-09-01 |
| 5 | Ohio | $21.21 | — | — | 2020-06-12 |
| 6 | Connecticut | $21.14 | — | — | 2026-01-01 |
| 7 | North Carolina | $18.49 | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| 8 | Michigan | $8.62 | — | — | 2018-01-01 |
| 9 | Minnesota | $0.45 | — | — | 2024-01-01 |
What it costs to deliver in Iowa
Median hourly wages from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025).
| Role | IA median | US median | vs US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental health counselor | $29.27 | $28.53 | +2.6% |
| Mental health social worker | $23.33 | $28.98 | -19.5% |
| Clinical psychologist | $44.08 | $48.36 | -8.9% |
| Psychiatrist | $141.96 | $135.51 | +4.8% |
| Nurse practitioner | $62.58 | $63.61 | -1.6% |
| Psychiatric technician | $20.63 | $21.70 | -4.9% |
Recent Iowa behavioral health rate changes
The workspace adds every modifier, region and provider variant, full rate history, proposed changes, coverage and prior-authorization rules, managed-care plans and a unit-economics calculator. All of it is available through the API.
Rates are taken from Iowa's official Medicaid publications, and each one links to its source. Confirm with the payer before billing. Managed-care plans may pay differently from fee-for-service.