Relative Value Units (RVUs) became available 12/12/2023 which, along with the 2024 Conversion Factor (CF), allows calculation of the 2024 National Payment Amount (NPA) for all health care procedures reimbursed in Medicare. Here are the NPAs for the top ten services provided by psychologists, with a comparison to 2020-2023.

Four services show increases from 2023-2024. The individual psychotherapy codes for 60, 45, and 30 minutes increased by 1.7%, 1.5%, and 1.8%, respectively. Group therapy increased by 1.5%.

All other codes decreased from 2023-2024 by amounts ranging from 1.5% to 5.9%, including those for psychological and neuropsychological test administration and scoring by qualified health professionals and technicians, and the add-on code for complexity in psychotherapy. Reimbursement decreased by 3.2% for the initial diagnostic evaluation interview (90791), the fourth most frequent service provided by psychologists after psychotherapy.

Changes in NPAs occur due to the interaction between the CF — which decreased by 3.4% from 2023 to 2024 — and RVUs. The CF has declined by 9.3% since 2020, four years in a row from 2021-2024, the longest span of reductions since its first use in 1992.

Increases occurred in the Work and Practice Expense components of the RVUs, for the three psychotherapy codes, and in the Malpractice component for the 30 and 60 minute therapy codes.

Payment amounts will vary from NPAs based on geographic adjustments for location of practice. Local fee schedules will be available from Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs).