PT Evaluation (Low Complexity) Cost in Missouri
Pt eval low complex 20 min
Missouri Medicare physician rate (2026)
-3.9% vs nationalAverage of 3 localities. Office range $91.50–$95.65.
Your ZIP in Missouri
Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What this number is
The figures on this page are 2026 Medicare physician allowed amounts for a specific CPT code: the professional fee, adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices. They are not a hospital chargemaster price, not your insurer's contracted rate, and not a quote. Hospital facility fees, anesthesia, implants, imaging reads, and pathology are billed separately when they apply.
National vs Missouri
Where Missouri ranks for this CPT
CPT 97161 by Missouri locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan st. louis | $95.65 |
| metropolitan kansas city | $95.05 |
| rest of missouri | $91.50 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.862 to 0.952 in Missouri. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
PT Evaluation (Low Complexity) and how Missouri is priced
Missouri is a three-locality state: metropolitan St. Louis and metropolitan Kansas City are each priced separately, and everywhere else falls into a rest-of-state locality with lower geographic adjustments. Both metro localities approve higher amounts than outstate Missouri, and the Kansas City locality applies only to the Missouri side of that metro, since the Kansas side prices under Kansas's statewide locality. Springfield, Columbia, and the rural counties all share rest-of-state factors. The metro-versus-outstate gap is the main pricing story here.
St. Louis and Kansas City hold the state's academic medical centers and most of its specialty depth, drawing patients from far beyond Missouri's borders, including southern Illinois and eastern Kansas. Outstate Missouri is served by regional hubs in Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, with the Ozarks and Bootheel among the harder places to reach specialty care. Rural hospital viability has been a persistent concern across the state.
This procedure: This is the initial physical therapy evaluation for straightforward cases: a low-complexity assessment where the PT reviews your history, examines movement, strength, and function, and builds your treatment plan. It applies when you have no significant complicating factors, for example a recent simple ankle sprain in an otherwise healthy person. The appointment usually runs 30 to 60 minutes and often includes the first treatment, which is billed separately on top.
What Is PT Evaluation (Low Complexity)?
This is the initial physical therapy evaluation for straightforward cases: a low-complexity assessment where the PT reviews your history, examines movement, strength, and function, and builds your treatment plan. It applies when you have no significant complicating factors, for example a recent simple ankle sprain in an otherwise healthy person. The appointment usually runs 30 to 60 minutes and often includes the first treatment, which is billed separately on top.
What Affects the Cost
- The evaluation is a one-time charge at the start of care, usually priced above a standard treatment visit.
- Treatment codes billed at the same first visit stack on top of the evaluation fee.
- Complexity tiering matters: this low-complexity code is the least expensive of the three PT evaluation levels under many commercial fee schedules, though Medicare currently pays all three tiers the same.
- Direct access rules let you start PT without a physician referral in most states, saving a doctor visit, but some insurers still require a referral for payment.
- Hospital outpatient therapy departments attach facility fees to the evaluation that private clinics do not.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Do I need a physician referral for my insurance to pay, even though my state allows direct access?
- 2.What does the evaluation cost, and will treatment on the same day be billed on top?
- 3.Does the evaluation count against my plan's annual visit limit?
- 4.After evaluating me, how many visits and units per visit do you anticipate?
- 5.Is your clinic hospital-owned, and is there a facility fee on this evaluation?
Other featured procedures in Missouri
PT Evaluation (Low Complexity) in other states
PT Evaluation (Low Complexity) in Missouri: questions
How much does pt evaluation (low complexity) cost in Missouri?
The 2026 Medicare physician office rate for CPT 97161 averages $94.07 across 3 Missouri localities, from $91.50 in REST OF MISSOURI to $95.65 in METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS. The hospital physician rate averages $94.07. Enter a ZIP for the exact locality.
Does the rate change inside Missouri?
Yes. CMS splits Missouri into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $4.15 from the lowest to highest locality. Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What will a Medicare patient owe for the physician fee?
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $19 for the office physician line or $19 for the hospital physician line in Missouri. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
Is this the full pt evaluation (low complexity) bill in Missouri?
No. $94.07 is the Medicare physician allowed amount for CPT 97161. Anesthesia, facility fees, implants, and other CPT codes billed the same day are extra. Missouri ranks #13 of 51 states on this physician line (4% below the national office rate of $97.86).