How Much Does a Psychiatric Evaluation Cost in Georgia?
Psych diagnostic evaluation
$171.63In-office total2026 Medicare, Georgia averageUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a psychiatric evaluation in a doctor's office costs about $172 in Georgia, from $169 in Rest of Georgia to $175 in Atlanta, with no separate facility fee. In a facility the national total is up to about $319 at a hospital outpatient department, because the facility is paid its own rate on top of the physician.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
- ✓Five nearby hospitals by name, with CMS star ratings
- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
- ✓A word-for-word script for asking for a good-faith estimate
- ✓A private link you can reopen and share
- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
Georgia Medicare physician rate (2026)
-1.0% vs nationalAverage of 2 localities. Office range $168.68–$174.58.
What it costs in a hospital or surgery center
In a doctor’s office, the office rate above is the whole Medicare payment. When the same procedure is done in a hospital or surgery center, the facility bills its own fee on top of the physician, which is what these totals show. They are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Medicare may pay the facility separately for this code or package it into another service on the same day, so treat the facility share as an upper bound. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Your ZIP in Georgia
Look up your ZIP to see whether Atlanta-area or rest-of-state pricing applies, from the metro counties to Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and rural south Georgia.
What psychiatric evaluation costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Georgia moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
For example 30011.
One-off payment, no account and no subscription. You get a private link and an email. No medical records and no insurance card, ever.
What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again. In Georgia the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $34.41.
National vs Georgia
Where Georgia ranks for this CPT
CPT 90791 by Georgia locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| atlanta | $174.58 |
| rest of georgia | $168.68 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.892 to 1.016 in Georgia. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
Psychiatric Evaluation and how Georgia is priced
Georgia divides into an Atlanta metro locality and a rest-of-state locality, so the fee schedule itself recognizes the cost gap between the capital region and the rest of the state. Atlanta's higher wages and rents translate into higher Medicare-approved amounts inside its locality, while Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and rural Georgia share the lower rest-of-state pricing. The split is one of the cleaner examples of a two-tier state in the fee schedule. Patients near the locality boundary can see different approved amounts a short drive apart.
Metro Atlanta concentrates the state's academic medicine and most of its subspecialists, drawing referrals from across the Southeast. Outside the metro, south Georgia has seen repeated rural hospital closures, leaving longer trips for even routine procedures in some counties. Augusta and Savannah serve as important secondary hubs, and border residents sometimes cross into Chattanooga, Tallahassee, or Jacksonville for care.
This procedure: A psychiatric diagnostic evaluation is the comprehensive first appointment with a mental health professional, typically a psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist, covering your history, symptoms, and goals to establish a diagnosis and treatment plan. It usually runs 60 to 90 minutes, longer than ordinary therapy sessions, and happens in an office or by telehealth. This version of the evaluation does not include medical services like prescribing, which distinguishes it from its sister code 90792.
What Is Psychiatric Evaluation?
A psychiatric diagnostic evaluation is the comprehensive first appointment with a mental health professional, typically a psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist, covering your history, symptoms, and goals to establish a diagnosis and treatment plan. It usually runs 60 to 90 minutes, longer than ordinary therapy sessions, and happens in an office or by telehealth. This version of the evaluation does not include medical services like prescribing, which distinguishes it from its sister code 90792.
What Affects the Cost
- –Many therapists and some psychiatrists do not accept insurance at all, making this a cash purchase at whatever the clinician charges.
- –Clinician credentials drive price: psychiatrists charge more than psychologists, who charge more than masters-level therapists, for the same code.
- –In-network negotiated rates are often far below the clinician's list price, so network status changes the cost more than almost anything else.
- –Telehealth platforms sometimes price intake evaluations differently from their ongoing session rates.
- –Out-of-network plans may reimburse a percentage of an allowed amount well below what the clinician actually charged, leaving you the gap.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Are you in network with my plan, and if not, what is your rate for this evaluation?
- 2.Will ongoing sessions be billed at a different rate than this intake?
- 3.If I need medication, will you refer me for a separate 90792 evaluation with a prescriber, at what cost?
- 4.Does my plan offer a network-gap exception if no in-network therapist is available soon?
- 5.Do you provide superbills I can submit for out-of-network reimbursement?
Other featured procedures in Georgia
Psychiatric Evaluation in other states
Psychiatric Evaluation in Georgia: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a psychiatric evaluation in a doctor's office costs about $172 in Georgia, from $169 in Rest of Georgia to $175 in Atlanta, with no separate facility fee. In a facility the national total is up to about $319 at a hospital outpatient department, because the facility is paid its own rate on top of the physician. Enter a ZIP for the exact Georgia locality.
Yes. CMS splits Georgia into 2 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $5.90 from the lowest to highest locality. Look up your ZIP to see whether Atlanta-area or rest-of-state pricing applies, from the metro counties to Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and rural south Georgia.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $34 for the office physician line or $27 for the hospital physician line in Georgia. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
In a doctor's office, $171.63 is Medicare's whole payment in Georgia: it covers the physician, the room and the supplies, with no separate facility fee. If it is done in a hospital outpatient department instead, the physician is paid about $137.22 and the hospital adds its own facility payment, bringing the national total to up to about $319. Services billed under other codes, such as lab work, are extra. Georgia ranks #23 of 51 states on the office rate (within 2% of the national office rate of $173.35).