Therapy Medicaid rates in Vermont sit just above the national median on every service, without a single weak line. Vermont Medicaid pays $97.88 an hour for code 97110, therapeutic exercise, which ranks 23rd of 49 states and is 1.9% above the national median of $96.04. Occupational therapy, speech therapy and all three evaluations are also above their medians, by between 1.6% and 6.9%. All of them took effect on January 1, 2026.
Every rate below is compiled from official Vermont Medicaid publications, and each one links to its source document.
Vermont Medicaid therapy reimbursement: modestly above median
Vermont's schedule does not chase the top of the market. It sets each therapy rate a few percent above the national midpoint.
| Service | Code | Vermont rate | Rank | vs national median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical therapy | 97110 | $97.88 / hour | 23 of 49 | +1.9% |
| Occupational therapy | 97530 | $118.28 / hour | 19 of 48 | +6.9% |
| Speech-language therapy | 92507 | $64.34 | 14 of 39 | +4.4% |
| PT evaluation | 97163 | $83.02 | 22 of 46 | +1.6% |
| OT evaluation | 97166 | $85.00 | 20 of 46 | +3.1% |
| Speech-language evaluation | 92522 | $94.19 | 19 of 44 | +3.1% |
For a practice owner, a schedule like this is predictable. No discipline subsidizes another, and there is no evaluation code that pays far below its treatment rate. A mixed PT, OT and speech practice can budget each discipline on its own merits.
The 97110 Vermont Medicaid rate per hour
Vermont publishes code 97110 at $24.47 per 15-minute unit, with no modifier, which converts to $97.88 an hour. The 97163 PT evaluation pays $83.02.
The PT hour is the line where Vermont is closest to the median, and it is also the one where margins are tightest, as the wage section below shows.
Occupational therapy and speech in Vermont
Occupational therapy is Vermont's strongest hourly line. Code 97530 pays $29.57 per unit, or $118.28 an hour, 19th of 48 states. The OT evaluation on 97166 pays $85.00.
Speech therapy ranks highest of all Vermont's therapy lines. Code 92507 pays $64.34, 14th of 39 ranked states, and the 92522 speech-language evaluation pays $94.19. Combined with a low speech-language pathologist wage, covered below, speech is the line with the most room in Vermont.
Therapist wages and margins in Vermont
Federal occupational data for May 2025 gives these Vermont median hourly wages, with US medians in parentheses:
- Physical therapist: $47.10 ($49.40)
- Occupational therapist: $44.87 ($48.24)
- Speech-language pathologist: $39.47 ($47.05)
- Physical therapist assistant: $34.42 ($32.88)
A Vermont figure for occupational therapy assistants is not available; the national median is $34.76.
Against the hourly Medicaid rates:
- Physical therapy. The PT wage is 68.4% of the $97.88 rate, leaving a margin of $30.94 an hour after a loaded wage.
- Occupational therapy. The OT wage is 53.9% of the $118.28 rate, leaving $54.51 an hour.
The OT margin is far more comfortable than the PT margin. Physical therapist assistants in Vermont earn more than the national median, so assistant-delivered PT recovers less margin than it would in lower-wage states. A Vermont PT practice with a large Medicaid share needs tight scheduling and low cancellation rates to stay ahead.
Speech-language pathologists earn $39.47 against a national median of $47.05, well below the national level. With 92507 above the national median, pediatric speech is the Vermont therapy line where rates and wages align best for a provider.
Coverage rules and how Vermont Medicaid pays therapy
The Vermont schedule attaches no prior authorization rule to 92507, 97110, 97112, the 97161 evaluation or the speech evaluation codes 92521 through 92524, and no therapy code has a published unit limit. The schedule itself adds no authorization step; program policy still governs medical necessity and documentation.
Vermont's therapy rates come from Vermont Medicaid (fee-for-service, DVHA). The state's coverage data names 3 plans and program arrangements, including the Vermont Public Transit Association for transportation, and none of them reprices therapy claims. The rate on the schedule is the rate a practice bills. See the Vermont managed care page for how each arrangement works.
A January 2026 schedule
All six Vermont therapy rates carry a January 1, 2026 effective date. That means Vermont's above-median position is current, not left over from an old schedule that other states have since passed. For billing teams, claims for dates of service from January 1, 2026 onward should price at the figures on this page, and any variance points to a coding or unit issue rather than a mid-year rate split.
How Vermont compares with other states
Vermont is a middle-of-the-market state. Alaska pays $176.68 an hour for 97110, New Mexico $165.64 and Montana $147.04. At the bottom, New Jersey pays $58.80, California $48.88 and Maine $46.64. On speech, Washington leads at $144.10 for 92507, while New Hampshire, Nebraska and Pennsylvania pay near $20.
For the national overview, see therapy Medicaid rates by state. Every other Vermont code is on the Vermont Medicaid rates hub, and our methodology explains how units are converted to hourly rates.
Updated 2026-10-05