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.
Delaware Medicaid therapy reimbursement by service
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.
PT and OT: a top-ten Delaware schedule
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.
Speech therapy: Delaware's lowest-ranked service line
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. Practices offering all three disciplines should expect PT and OT to carry the Medicaid book of business, with speech running well behind.
Labor costs and margins in Delaware
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.
Prior authorization and coverage rules
None of the eight therapy codes on file, 92507, 92521, 92522, 92523, 92524, 97110, 97112 and 97161, 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.
Diamond State Health Plan: plans negotiate therapy rates
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. For speech practices in particular, the negotiated plan rate may matter more than the low published figure, since that figure is only the out-of-network fallback. The Delaware managed-care page lists the plans on file.
Delaware against the highest and lowest therapy states
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.
For mid-Atlantic groups, Delaware rewards PT and OT and penalizes speech. The national therapy rates hub compares every state on the same basis, and our methodology explains how rates are converted and ranked.
Updated 2026-10-05