CPT code 90849: Family group therapy, multiple families2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Washington, DC area

In Washington, DC area, Medicare pays $44.79 for 90849 in the office and $32.59 when it’s performed in a hospital or facility.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 90849 nationwide

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 90849 covers

A mental health clinician leads psychotherapy with members of multiple families in the same session. The work may focus on recurring relationship patterns, family responses to a child’s behavioral or emotional difficulties, or coping approaches shared across families facing similar concerns. The session is psychotherapy, not simply a presentation or general support meeting. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other qualified mental health clinicians may provide it in an office, clinic, or facility setting.

Choose 90849 when the treatment involves multiple family units participating together, rather than one family meeting with the clinician or a group of individual patients. Document the participating families, the clinical focus, and the therapeutic work performed. Report the session rather than separate units for each family or attendee. CMS assigns work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs; its office and facility practice-expense values are distinct.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

How Washington, DC area compares for 90849

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 90849 runs from $37.64 in Arkansas to $52.43 in Alaska. Washington, DC area pays $44.79. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

90849 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

See 90849 in every payment locality

How the 90849 rate is calculated

Each of 90849’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 90849

90849 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

Codes related to 90849

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

How 90849 has changed in Washington, DC area

Price 90849 for an earlier date of service

Where the Washington, DC area rate applies

Washington, DC area is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 1 cities and communities in District of Columbia. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Washington

Browse all communities in District of Columbia

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates